THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE    CAMPING-OUT   SERIES. 
VOLUME  n. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR; 


CRUISE  OF  THE  SCHOONER-YACHT  "CURLEW." 


AS  RECORDED  BY  "WASH. 


BY   C.   A.   STEPHENS. 


ILLUSTRATED. 


PHILADELPHIA : 

PORTER    AND    C  GATES. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1873, 

BY  JAMES  R.  OSGOOD  &  CO., 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington. 


INTRODUCTION. 


rTlHOSE  of  our  readers  who  may  have  read 
•*•  "  Camping  Out,"  the  first  volume  of  the 
"  Camping-Out  Series,"  will  probably  recall  the 
circumstance  of  the  graphite  lode,  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  left  to  Raed  to  dispose  of. 
As  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  at  the  time  of 
his  negotiations  with  the  unknown  gentlemen  to 
permit  of  a  trip  to  Katahdin  that  fall,  the  whole 
affair  wab  postponed  till  the  following  spring. 

On  the  27th  of  April,  Raed  set  out  for  Bangor. 
At  Portland,  Me.,  he  was  joined  by  the  gentlemen 
(their  names  we  are  not  at  liberty  to  give) ;  and  at 
Bangor  Kit  met  the  party.  Thence  they  went  up 
to  the  mountain,  where  they  had  no  difficulty  in 
rediscovering  the  lode.  That  the  examination 
was  satisfactory  will  be  seen  from  the  first  chapter 

iii 

484036 


iv  INTRODUCTION. 

of  young  Burleigh's  narrative,  which  we  subj.  -.'** 
It  is  an  account  of  their  first  yacht-cruise  no~th. 
The  schooner  "  Curlew,"  with  the  party,  sailed  from 
"  Squam  "  (Gloucester,  north  village)  on  the  10th 
of  June. 

On  the  7th  of  July  they  made  Cape  Resolution 
on  the  north  side  of  the  entrance  of  Hudson 
Straits.  Thenceforward,  till  their  escape  from 
that  icy  passage  in  August,  their  voyage  was  one 
continued  series  of  startling  adventures  amid  some 
of  the  grandest  and  most  terrible  scenery  the 
earth  affords. 

Of  the  plan  of  self-education  adopted  and  acted 
upon  by  these  young  gentlemen  we  may  remark, 
that  it  is  singularly  bold  and  original  in  its  concep- 
tion. If  persevered  in.  we  have  no  doubt  that  the 
result  will  fully  justify  their  expectations.  Unless 
we  are  much  mistaken,  it  will  be,  as  they  modestly 
hope,  a  pioneer  movement,  looking  to  a  much- 
needed  revolution  in  the  present  sedentary  pro- 
gramme of  collegiate  study. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAOK 

Sequel  to  the  "  Graphite  Lode."  — The  Fifteen  Thousand  Dollars,  and 
how  it  was  invested.  —  About  the  Yacht. — The  Schooner  "  Curlew." 
Capt.  Mazard.  —  Guard.  —  The  Gloucester  Boys.  —  "  Palmleaf, 
Bar."  — Getting  Ready  for  the  Voyage.  —  Ship-Stores.  —  The  How- 
itzer.—The  Big  Rifle.— A  Good  Round  Bill  at  the  Outoet  .  .  > 

CHAPTER  IL 

Dp  Anchor,  and  away. — What  the  Old  Folks  thought  of  It.  — Th« 
Narrator's  Preface.  —  "  Squeamish."  —  A  North-easter.  —  Foggy.  — 
The  Schooner  "  Catfish."  — Catching  Cod-Fish  on  the  Grand  Bank. 

—  The  First  Ice. — The  Polar  Current.  —  The  Lengthening  Day. — 
Cape  Farewell. — We  bear  away  for  Cape  Resolution.  —  Hudson's 
fi*jraits.—  Its  Ice  and  Tides 17, 

CHAPTER  m. 

Oape  Resolution.  —  The  Entrance  into  Hudson's  Straita.  — The  Sun  in 
the  North-east.  —  The  Resolution  Cliffs.  —  Sweating  among  Icebergs. 

—  A  Shower  and  a  Fog.  —  An  Anxious  Night.  —  A  Strange  Rum- 
bling. —  Singular  Noises  and  Explosions.  —  Running  into  an  Iceberg. 

—  In  Tow.  —  A  Big  Hailstone  drops  on  Deck. —  Boarding  »n  Ice- 
berg. —  Solution  of  the  Explosions.  —  A  Lucky  Escape     ...      99 

.      T 


Yi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PAGI. 

The  Fog  lifts.  —  A  Whale  in  Sight.  —  Craggy  Black  Mountains  capped 
with  Snow.  —  A  Novel  Carriage  for  the  Big  Rifle.  —  Mounting  the 
Howitzer.  —  A  Doubtful  Shot.  —  The  Lower  Savage  Isles.  —  A 
Deep  Inlet.  —  "Mazard's  Bay."  —  A  Desolate  Island.  —  An  Ice- 
Jam.  —  A  Strange  Blood-red  Light.  —  Solution  of  the  Mystery.  — 
Going  Ashore.  —  Barren  Ledges.—  Beds  of  Moss.  —  A  Bald  Peak. 
—  An  Alarm.  —  The  Schooner  in  Jeopardy.  —  The  Crash  and  Thun- 
der of  the  Ice.  —  Tremendous  Tides  .......  Si 

CHAPTER   V. 

A  Dead  Narwhal.  —  Snowy  Owls.  —  Two  Bears  in  Sight.  —  Firing  on 
them  with  the  Howitzer.  —  A  Bear-Hunt  among  the  Ice.  —  An  Ice 
"  Jungle."  —  An  Exciting  Chase.  —  The  Bear  turns.  —  Palmleaf 
makes  "a  Sure  Shot."  —  "Run,  you  Black  Son  1"  .  13 

CHAPTER   VI. 

The  Middle  Savage  Isles.  —  Glimpse  of  an  Esquimau  Canoe.  —  Firing 
at  a  Bear  with  the  Cannon-Rifle.  —  A  Strange  Sound.  —  The  Esqui- 
maux. —  Their  Kayaks.  —  They  come  on  Board.  —  An  Unintelligible 
Tongue.  —  "  Chymo  "  ..........  -84 

CHAPTER   Vn. 

The  Husky  Belles.  —  We-we  and  Caubvick.  —  "Abb,"  she  said.  —  All 
Promenade.  —  Candy  at  a  Discount.  —  "Pillitay,  Pillitay!"  —  Old 
Trull  and  the  Husky  Matron.  —  Gorgeous  Gifts.  —  Adieu  to  the 
Arctic  Beauties  .  ....  ....*..  101 


CHAPTER   Vni. 

The  Husky  Chief.  —  Palmleaf  Indignant.  —  A  Gun.  —  Sudden  Appari- 
tion of  the  Company's  Ship.  —  We  hold  a  Hasty  Council.  —  In  the 
Jaws  of  the  British  Lion.—  An  Armed  Boat.  —  Repel  BoardersI  — 
Red-face  waxes  wrathful.  —  Fired  on,  but  no  Bones  broken  .  .  114 

CHAPTER   IX. 

A  Barren  Shore,  and  a  Strange  Animal,  which  is  captured  by  blowing 
up  its  Den.  —  Palmleaf  falls  in  with  the  Esquimaux,  and  is  chased 
by  them.  —  "  Tu>au-ve  .'"  —  UA  Close  Shave."  —  An  Attack  threat- 
ened. —  The  Savages  dispersed  with  the  Howitzer  .  .  .  .131 


CONTENTS.  v,i 

CHAPTER   X. 

PAOB. 

The  Dip  of  the  Needle. —  The  North  Magnetic  Fole.  —  A  Kayak  Bot- 
tom up,  with  its  Owner  Head  down. — Ice-Patches.  —  Anchoring 
to  an  Ice-Floe.  —  A  Bear-Hunt  in  the  Fog  —  Bruin  charges  his 
Enemies.  —  Soundings.  —  The  Depth  of  the  Straits  .  .  .  .16? 

CHAPTER   XI. 

"  Isle  Aktok."  —  A  Sea-Horse  and  a  Sea-Horse  Hunt.  —  In  High  Spirits. 

—  Sudden  Interruption  of  the  Hunt.  —  A  Heavy  Gun.  —  The  Race 
to  the  Ledge-Tops.  —  Too  Late. — A  Disheartening  Spectacle.— 
Surprised  by  the  Company's  Ship.  —  The  Schooner  in  Peril.  —  Capt. 
Hazard  hravely  waits. — The  Flight  of   "The  Curlew"  amid  a 
Shower  of  Balls.  — The  Chase.— Left  on  the  Islet.  — A  Gloomy 
Prospect.  —  "  What  shall  we  have  for  Grub  to  ate  1"  —  Wild-Geese. 

—  Egging.  —  "Boom!"  —  A  Sea-Horse  Fire 168 

CHAPTER   XH. 

The  "Spider."  — Fried  Egga.  — The  "Plates."  — "  Awful  Freshl"  — 
No  Salt.  —  Plans  forgetting  Salt  from  Sea -Water. — Ice -Water. — 
Fried  Goose.  —  Plans  to  escape.  —  A  Gloomy  Night.  — Fight  with  a 
Walrus. —Another  "  Wood -Pile."  —  Wade  Sick.  — A  Peevish  Pa- 
tient and  a  Fractious  Doctor. —The  Manufacture  of  Salt .  .  187 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

More  Salt.  —  Some  Big  Hailstones. — A  Bright  Aurora. — The  Look 
out.  —  An  Oomiak  heaves  in  Sight.  —  The  Huskies  land  on  a  Neigh 
boring  Island. — Shall  we  join  them?  —  A  Bold,  Singular,  not  to  say 
Infamous,  Proposition  from  Kit.  —  Some  Sharp  Talk.  —  Kit's  Pro- 
ject carried  by  Vote 207 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

We  set  up  a  Military  Despotism  on  "  Isle  Aktok." —  "  No  Better  than 
Filibusters  I  "  —  The  Seizure  of  the  Oomiak.  — The  Seal-Tax.  —  A 
Case  of  Discipline. —  Wulchee  and  Wundice.  —  The  Inside  of  a 
Husky  Hut.  — "  Eigh.  Eisrhl"  —  An  Esquimau  Ball.  — A  Funeral. 
—  Wutchee  and  Wu-'oVc's  Co<jke«y.  —  The  Esquimau  Whip  .  . 


,iii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

PACK. 

Winter  at  Hand.— We  hold  a  Serious  Council.  — "  Cold  I  oh,  how 
Coldl"— A  Midnight  Gun.— The  Return  of  "  The  Curlew."— "A 
J'yful  'Qasion." — A  Grand  Distribution  of  Presents.  —  Good-by  to 
the  Husky  {{iris.  —  A  Singular  Savage  Song.  —  "We  All  get  Senti- 
mental.—  Adieu  to  "  Isle  Aktok."  —  Homeward  Bound. — We  en- 
gage "  The  Curlew "  and  her  Captain  for  Another  Year  .  .  .  Ml 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 


CHAPTER    I. 

Sequel  to  the «'  Graphite  Lode."  —  The  Fifteen  Thousand  Dollars,  and  how 
it  was  invested.  —  About  the  Yacht.  —  The  Schooner  "  Curlew-"  — 
Capt.  Hazard.  —  Guard. —  The  Gloucester  Boys.  —  "  Palmleaf,  Sar."  — 
Getting  Ready  for  the  Voyage. —  Ship-Stores.  —  The  Howitzer.  —  Th* 
Big  Rifle.  — A  Good  Round  Bill  at  the  Outset. 

RAED  got  home  from  Katahdin  on  the  night  of  the 
15th  of  May.  Kit  came  with  him;  and  together 
they  called  on  Wade  and  the  writer  of  the  following 
narrative  early  on  the  morning  of  the  16th.  Brown 
enough  both  boys  looked,  exposed  as  they  had  been  to 
the  tanning  winds  for  more  than  a  fortnight. 

"  Jubilate ! "  shouted  Raed  as  I  opened  the  door. 
"Latest  news  from  Mount  Katahdin,  —  graphite  stock 
clean  up  to  the  moon  ! " 

Wade  came  looking  down  stairs,  nothing  on  but  his 
gown  and  slippers.  At  sight  of  his  tousled  head  both 
our  callers  gave  a  whoop  of  recognition,  and  set  upon 
him,  —  shook  him  out  of  his  slippers,  and  pulled  him 
ipwn  the  steps  on  to  the  sidewalk  barefoot ;  thereby 
l  l 


2  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

scandalizing  a  whole  houseful  of  prim  damsels  across 
the  street,  who  indignantly  pulled  down  their  curtains. 
Such  a  hand-shaking  and  back-patting  as  ensued!  All 
the  hardships  and  discouragement  we  had  endured  on 
our  last  season's  expedition  seemed  to  bear  an  exult- 
ant harvest  in  this  our  final  success. 

"  But  you  haven't  been  to  breakfast ! "  exclaimed  Kit. 

"So  they  haven't!"  cried  Eaed.  "Well,  can't  do 
business  till  they  have  their  breakfast.  We'll  leave 
'em  to  guzzle  their  coffee  in  peace.  But  hurry  up ! 
We  must  hold  a  council  this  morning, — have  a  grand 
pow-wow !  Come  round  at  nine  sharp." 

They  were  off. 

We  ate  breakfast,  and  went  down  to  Raed's,  where 
we  got  into  the  back  parlor,  shut  the  doors,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  pow-wow.  Wade  was  chosen  president  of 
the  meeting ;  Kit,  secretary. 

"  First,"  said  Eaed,  "  allow  me  to  give  an  account  of 
my  stewardship.  No  need  of  going  into  details.  We 
went  up  to  Katahdin ;  found  the  lode.  Messrs.  Ham" 
mer  and  Tonys  were  well  satisfied.  The  fifteen  thou- 
sand dollars  was  paid  without  so  much  as  winking. 
Might  have  had  twenty  thousand  dollars  just  as  well ; 
but  I  didn't  know  it  when  I  made  the  offer.  Hope 
you  won't  be  dissatisfied  with  me.  Here's  the  money  ; 
two  checks,  — one  on  the  First  National  Bank  tor  nine 
thousand  dollars,  the  other  on  the  Maverick  National 
Bank  for  six  thousand  dollars." 

"I  move  we  accept  the  gentleman's  statement,  and 
tender  our  sincere  thanks  for  his  eminently  successful 
services,"  said  a  voice. 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  S 

The  motion  was  seconded  by  Kit,  and  carried. 

"  Question  now  arises,"  Raed  resumed,  "  Wliat  shall 
we  do  with  this  money  ?  Of  course  we  mast  plant  it 
somewhere,  have  it  growing,  what  we  don't  want  to  use 
immediately." 

"Might  speculate  a  little  with  it,"  suggested  Wade, 
"  so  as  to  double  it  up  along." 

"  And  risk  losing  the  whole  of  it,"  put  in  Kit. 

(t '  Nothing  risked,  nothing  gained,' "  quoted  Wade. 
«  What  say,  Kaed  ?  Why  not  buy  gold  ?  " 

"Better  put  it  into  bonds,"  said  Kit;  "safer,  a  good 
deal." 

"  Don't  know  about  that,"  remarked  Wade.  "  Your 
abolition  government  may  turn  a  somersault  some  fine 
morning." 

"  Well,  it  won't  strike  on  its  head  if  it  does,  —  like 
a  certain  government  we've  all  heard  of,"  retorted 
Kit. 

"Call  the  president  and  secretary  to  order,  some- 
body ! "  cried  Kaed. 

"  Now  about  buying  gold,"  he  continued.  "  There's 
nothing  to  be  made  in  gold  just  now,  especially  with 
fifteen  thousand  dollars :  if  we  had  a  million,  it  might 
be  worth  talking  of.  I  really  don't  just  know  where  to 
put  our  little  fifteen  thousand  dollars  to  make  it  pull 
the  hardest.  Suppose  we  run  down  and  have  a  talk 

with  our  legal  friend,  Mr.  H "  (the  same  who  had 

ad  vised  us  relative  to  the  "  lode  "). 

"All  right." 

We  went  down.  Our  gentleman  had  just  come  in 
Haed  stated  our  case.  II heard  it. 


4  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"So  you  want  to  speculate  a  little,"  said  he  pleas- 
antly. "  Good  boys.  That's  right.  Won't  work  your- 
selves ;  won't  even  let  your  money  work  honestly :  want 
to  set  it  to  cheating  somebody.  Well,  you  must  re- 
member that  the  biter  sometimes  gets  bitten." 

"  Oh !  we  don't  want  any  thing  hazardous,"  explained 
Eaed. 

"  Yes,  I  see,"  remarked  Mr.  H ;  "  something 

not  too  sharp,  sorf  of  over  and  above  board,  and  tolera- 
bly safe." 

"  That's  about  our  style,"  remarked  Wade. 

"  Well,  I'm  doing  a  little  something  by  way  of  Back- 
bay  land  speculation.  That  would  be  near  home  for 
you ;  and  you  can  go  in  your  whole  pile,  or  only  a  thou- 
sand, just  as  you  choose." 

"  Back-bay  land,"  said  Kit.  "  Where  is  this  Back- 
bay  land  ?  " 

"Well,  there  you've  got  me,"  replied  Mr.  H , 

laughing.  "  It  would  be  rather  hard  telling  where  the 
land  is.  In  fact,  the  land  is  most  all  water.  The  land 
part  has  yet  to  be  made.  There's  room  to  make  it, 
however.  I  mean  out  in  the  Back  Bay,  north-west  of 
the  city  here,  along  the  Charles  River.  City  is  growing 
rapidly  out  that  way.  We  have  got  up  a  sort  of 
company  of  share-owners  of  the  space  out  on  the  tidal 
marsh.  These  shares  can  be  bought  and  sold.  As  1 
said,  the  city  is  growing  in  that  direction.  There's  a 
steady  rise  in  value  per  square  foot.  Value  may  double 
in  a  year.  Put  in  ten  thousand  now,  and  it  may  be 
worth  twenty  by  next  year  at  this  time." 

"But  is  there  really  any  bottom  to  it  ?  "  asked  Wade. 


LEFT   OX  LABRADOR.  5 

"Oh,  yes!  geologists  think  there's  bottom  out  there 
somewhere.  But  we  shareholders  don't  trouble  ourselves 
about  the  bottom." 

" I  mean  bottom  to  the  company"  interrupted  Raed. 

"Yes,  yes.  Well,  that's  another  matter.  But  then 
you  will  be  dealt  honestly  with,  if  that's  what  you  mean 
by  bottom.  Of  course,  you  must  take  the  risk  with  the 
rest  of  us.  You  put  in  ten  thousand :  and,  if  you  want 
me  to  do  so,  I  will  be  on  the  lookout  for  your  interests ; 
tell  you  when  to  sell,  you  know ;  and,  in  case  there  should 
be  like  to  come  a  crash,  I'll  tip  you  a  wink  when  to 
stand  from  under." 

"  Then  you  advise  us  to  invest  in  this  ? "  queried 
Baed. 

'•'Well,  I  should  say  that  it  was  as  well  as  you  can 
do." 

"  What  say,  fellows  ?  "  Kaed  inquired,  turning  to  us. 

"Perhaps  we  could  not  do  better,"  said  Kit.  "I  sup- 
pose this  property  comes  under  the  head  of  real  estate  ; 
and  real  estate  is  generally  considered  safe  property 
You  call  it  real  estate,  don't  you,  Mr.  H ?" 

"Yes,  yes;  as  near  real  estate  as  any  thing.  It's 
kind  of  amphibious  ;  half  real  estate  certainly,  —  more'n 
half  when  the  tide  is  out." 

So  we  purchased  that  afternoon,  through  Mr.  H , 

ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  Back-bay  land.  Of  our 
remaining  five  thousand  dollars,  we  put  three  thousand 
dollars  into  5-20  bonds,  and  deposited  the  remaining  two 
thousand  dollars  ready  for  immediate  use.  That  was 
about  all  we  did  that  day. 

In  the  evening  we  went  to  hear  Parepa,  who  was  then 


6  LEFT  ON   LABRADOR. 

in  town;  and  the  next  morning  met  at  nine,  at  Eaod'j 
again,  to  pow-wow  further  concerning  the  yacht. 

"  It  is  too  late,"  said  Kit  after  we  were  again  snug  in 
the  back  parlor,  "  to  get  a  yacht  built  and  launched  so 
as  to  make  a  voyage  this  summer.  Such  a  vessel  as  we 
want  can't  be  built  and  got  off  the  stocks  in  much,  if 
any,  less  than  a  year.  What  are  we  to  do  meanwhile  ? 
—  wait  for  it?" 

"No,"  said  Wade. 

«2STo,"  said  Eaed. 

"What  then?"  asked  Kit. 

"Hire  a  vessel,"  I  suggested. 

"  Can  we  do  that  ?  "  asked  Wade. 

It  seemed  likely  that  we  could. 

"  Has  it  ever  occurred  to  any  of  you  that  we  none  of 
us  know  any  thing  about  sailing  a  vessel  ?  —  any  thing 
to  speak  of,  I  mean  ?  "  Kit  inquired. 

We  had  all  been  vaguely  aware  of  such  a  state  of 
things ;  but  not  till  now  had  we  been  brought  face  to 
face  with  it. 

"  It  would  be  the  worst  kind  of  folly  for  us  to  go  out 
of  port  alone,"  I  couldn't  help  saying. 

"  Of  course  it  would,"  replied  Kit. 

"  I'm  well  aware  of  that,"  said  Eaed.  "  We  shall 
have  to  learn  seamanship  somehow." 

"  Besides,"  remarked  Wade,  "  sailing  a  vessel  wouldn't 
be  very  light  nor  very  pleasant  work  for  us,  I'm  thinking. 
If  we  could  afford  to  hire  a  good  skipper,  it  would  be 
better." 

"  We  shall  have  to  hire  one  till  we  learn  how  to 
manage  a  vessel  ourselves,"  replied  Eaed. 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  7 

"  Ajid  not  only  a  skipper,  but  sailors  as  well,"  said 
Kit.  '-'  What  shall  we  be  able  to  do  the  first  week  out, 
especially  if  it  be  rough  weather  ?  " 

"  Do  you  suppose  we  shall  be  much  seasick  ?  "  Wade 
asked  suddenly. 

"  Very  likely  we  shall  be  sick,  when  it's  rough,  for 
a  while,"  said  Raed.  •  "We  must  expect  it,  and  get  over 
it  the  best  way  we  can." 

"  Now,  suppose  we  are  able  to  hire  a  schooner  such 
as  we  want,  with  a  skipper,  and  crew  of  five  or  six,"  he 
continued :  "  where  shall  we  make  our  first  cruise  ?  " 

"  Along  the  coast  of  Maine,"  I  suggested.  "  From 
Casco  Bay  to  Eastport.  Several  yachts  were  down  there 
last  summer.  Found  good  fishing.  Had  a  fine  time. 
There  are  harbors  all  along,  so  that  they  could  go  in 
every  night. 

"  Just  the  place  for  our  first  voyage !  "  exclaimed 
Wade. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  replied  Kaed,  "  that  if  we  hire 
a  good  stanch  schooner  and  skipper,  with  a  crew,  we 
might  do  something  more  than  just  cruise  along  the 
coast  of  Maine,  fish  a  little,  and  then  come  back." 

"  So  it  does  to  me,"  said  Kit.  "  We  should  never  get 
on  our  polar  voyage  at  that  rate.  If  we  are  going  into 
all  this  expense,  let's  go  up  as  far  as  the  'Banks'  of 
Newfoundland,  anyway." 

"  And  why  not  a  little  farther,"  said  Eaed,  "  if  the 
weather  was  good,  and  we  met  with  no  accident?  If 
every  thing  went  well,  why  not  sail  on  up  to  the  entrance 
yf  Hudson  Straits,  and  get  a  peep  at  the  Esquimaux  ?  " 

"  Raed  never5!!  be  satisfied  till  lie  gets  into  Hudson 


8  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Bay,"  laughed  Wade.  "What  is  there  so  attractive 
about  Hudson  Bay  ?  I  can't  imagine." 

"  Because,"  said  Kaed,  "  it's  an  almost  unknown  sea 
Ever  since  it  was  first  discovered  by  the  noble  navigator, 
who  perished  somewhere  along  its  shores,  it  has  been 
shut  up  from  the  world  in  the  hands  of  a  few  selfish  in- 
dividuals, who  got  the  charter  of  the  Hudson-bay  Com- 
pany from  the  King  of  England.  They  own  it  and  all 
the  country  about  it,  and  run  it  for  their  own  profit  only. 
About  that  great  bay  there  is  a  coast-line  of  more  than 
two  thousand  miles,  with  Indian  tribes  on  its  shores  as 
wild  and  savage  as  when  Columbus  first  came  to  America. 
Just  think  of  the  adventure  and  wild  scenery  one  might 
witness  on  a  voyage  round  there !  It's  a  shame  we 
Americans  can't  go  in  there  if  we  want  to.  The  idea 
of  letting  half  a  dozen  little  red-faced  men  in  London 
rule,  hold,  and  keep  everybody  else  out  of  that  great 
region !  It's  a  disgrace  to  us.  Their  old  charter  ought 
to  have  been  taken  away  from  them  long  ago.  I  don't 
know  that  I  shall  go  there  this  year,  nor  next :  but  I 
mean  to  go  into  that  bay  some  time,  and  sail  round  there, 
and  trade  and  talk  with  the  savages  as  much  as  I  choose ; 
and,  if  the  company  undertakes  to  hinder  me,  I'll  fight 
for  it ;  for  they've  no  moral  right  nor  business  to  keep 
us  out." 

"  Good  on  your  head ! "  cried  Kit,  patting  him  encour- 
agingly. 

"  A  war  with  England  seems  to  be  imminent ! "  ex- 
claimed Wade.  "  Methinks  I  hear  the  boom  of  can- 
non ! " 

Raed  looked  dubious  a  moment,  but  immediately  b 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  9 

to  laugh.  He  is  rather  apt  to  fly  off  on  such  tangents. 
We  have  to  sprinkle  him  with  ridicule  a  little:  that 
always  brings  him  out  of  it  all  right  again. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  waiving  that  subject,  what  say  foi 
going  as  far  north  as  Hudson  Straits,  if  every  thing 
should  work  favorably  •?  " 

We  had  none  of  us  any  thing  to  urge  against  this. 

"  But  we  must  not  forget  that  we  have  not  yet  hired 
a  vessel,"  added  Kit. 

"No,"  said  Eaed;  "and  the  sooner  we  find  out  what 
we  can  do,  the  better." 

That  afternoon  Wade  and  I  went  down  to  the  wharves 
to  make  inquiries.  Eaed  and  Kit  went  out  to  Glouces- 
ter, it  being  quite  probable  that  some  sort  of  a  craft 
might  be  found  out  of  employ  there.  Wade  and  I  were 
unable  to  see  or  hear  of  any  thing  at  all  to  our  minds  in 
our  harbor,  and  came  up  home  at  about  seven,  P.M.  Kit 
and  Eaed  had  not  got  back  ;  nor  did  they  come  in  the 
morning,  nor  during  the  next  day.  A  few  minutes  be- 
fore eight  in  the  evening,  however,  we  received  a  despatch 
from  Portland,  Me.,  saying,  "  Come  down  and  see  it." 

We  went  down  on  the  morning  train.  The  boys  were 
at  the  depot. 

"  Couldn't  find  a  thing  at  Gloucester  nor  Newbury- 
port  nor  Portsmouth,"  said  Eaed.  "  But  I  think  we've 
struck  something  here,  if  we  can  stand  the  expense." 

"Eight  out  here  at  the  wharf,'-'  said  Kit. 

We  walked  across. 

"  There  she  is  ! "  pointed  Eaed. 

A  pretty  schooner  of  a  hundred  and  seventy  tons  laj 
alongside. 


10  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

"One  year  old,"  Eaed  explained.  "Clean  and  swoei 
as  a  nut.  Here  from  Bangor  with  pine-lumber.  Cap- 
tain's a  youngish  man,  but  a  good  sailor.  We  inquired 
about  him.  Appears  like  a  good  fellow  too.  Has  been 
on  a  cod-fisher  up  to  the  Banks  ;  also  on  a  sealer  off 
Labrabor.  He's  our  man,  I  think." 

"And  the  best  of  it  all  is,"  said  Kit,  "he  owns  the 
schooner ;  can  go  if  he's  a  mind  to.  So  we  sha'n't  be 
bothered  with  any  old  musty-fusty  owners." 

"  Well,  what  does  he  say  ?  "  asked  Wade. 

"  He  says  he  will  put  us  up  there  this  summer  if  we 
will  give  him  a  hundred  dollars  per  mouth,  pay  full  in- 
surance fees  on  the  vessel,  hire  him  six  good  seamen, 
and  give  three  hundred  dollars  for  the  use  of  schooner ; 
we,  of  course,  to  furnish  ship -stores  and  provide  a 
cook." 

"  Gracious !  that's  going  to  cost  us  something,"  said  I. 

"  Yes  ;  but  it's  about  the  best  and  only  thing  we  can 
do,"  said  Kit. 

"•  Why  does  he  want  a  new  crew  ? "  Wade  asked. 
"  Why  does  he  not  keep  these  he  has  ?  " 

'•  Says  that  these  are  all  inexperienced, — green  hands," 
replied  Eaed.  "  If  we  are  going  up  there  among  the 
ice  on  a  dangerous  coast,  he  wants  Gloucester  boys,  — 
Gloucester  or  Nantucket ;  prefers  Gloucester.  Thinks 
six  Gloucester  lads  will  be  about  the  right  thing." 

"  Where  is  he  ?  "  asked  Wade. 

"Up  at  the  Preble  House." 

We  went  up ;  when  Wade  and  I  were  formally  intro- 
duced to  Capt.  George  Hazard  of  the  schooner  "  Cur- 
lew." Had  dinner  with  him.  Liked  him.  He  appeared 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  H 

then,  as  we  have  since  proved  him,  a  thorough!}  good- 
hearted,  clear-headed  sailor.  As  Raed  had  hinted,  he 
was  quite  a  young  man,  —  not  more  than  twenty  seven 
or  eight ;  middle  height,  hut  strong ;  face  hrowu  and 
frank ;  features  good ;  manner  a  little  serious  ;  and  atten- 
tive to  business  when  on  duty.  On  the  whole,  the  man 
was  rather  grave  for  one  of  his  years.  Occasionally, 
however,  when  any  thing  particularly  pleased  him,  he 
developed  a  vein  of  strong,  rich  mirth,  which  would 
endure  for  several  hours.  He  impressed  us  at  once  as  a 
reliable  man,  —  one  to  be  depended  on  under  any  ordi- 
nary circumstances.  We  decided  (very  wisely  as  I  now 
think)  to  accept  his  offer ;  and,  after  dinner,  went  down 
to  the  Marine  Insurance  Office  to  take  out  a  policy  on 
the  vessel.  On  learning  that  we  were  intending  to  enter 
Hudson  Straits,  the  agent  refused  to  underwrite  us :  it 
was  too  ugly  a  risk.  He  either  couldn't  or  didn't  want 
to  understand  the  object  of  our  voyage.  Here  was  a 
stick.  Capt.  Mazard  declined  to  sail  uninsured  unless 
we  would  take  the  risk.  We  did  not  much  like  to  do 
that.  Finally  E.aed  offered  on  our  side  to  assume  one- 
half  the  risk.  After  some  hesitation,  this  was  agreed  to ; 
and  a  paper  to  that  effect  was  drawn  up  and  signed. 

We  then  went  down  to  the  wharf  where  "  The  Cur- 
lew" lay. 

A  fine,  shaggy  Newfoundland  dog,  black  as  a  crow, 
came  growling  up  the  companion-way  as  we  jumped 
down  on  deck,  but,  perceiving  the  captain,  began  to  race 
and  tear  about  with  great  barks  of  canine  delight. 

"That's  a  jolly  big  dog!"  Kit  remarked.  "Keeps 
watch  here  while  you  are  off?" 


12  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Yes,  sir.  Don't  want  a  better  hand.  J^ever  leaves 
the  schooner  without  I  bid  him.  Wants  his  dinner  too, 
I  guess.  I  haven't  been  here  since  last  night." 

"  What's  his  name  ?  "  said  Wade. 

«  Guard." 

"  He's  a  noble  fellow,"  observed  Raed.  "  Hope  you 
will  take  him  along  with  you." 

"  I  should  be  loath  to  go  off  without  him." 

Some  changes  below  deck  seemed  necessary;  and  we 
arranged  for  having  the  hold  floored  over,  and  a  sort  of 
rough  saloon  made,  running  nearly  the  whole  length  of 
the  vessel.  Off  the  forward  end  of  this  saloon  was  to 
be  parted  a  cook's  galley,  with  another  section  for  the 
seamen's  berths.  Also  arranged  for  a  skylight  in  the 
deck;  in  short,  for  having  the  schooner  made  as  con- 
venient as  possible  for  our  purpose,  at  our  expense. 

Leaving  Capt.  Hazard  to  superintend  these  changes, 
we  went  back  to  Gloucester  in  the  morning,  and  during 
the  day  managed  to  hire  six  sailors,  young  fellows  of 
eighteen  and  twenty,  save  one,  an  old  sea-dog  of  fifty  or 
thereabouts,  at  forty  dollars  per  month.  They  looked  a 
little  rough,  but  turned  out  to  be  very  good  sailors ; 
which  was  the  most  we  wanted.  Their  names,  as  they 
gave  them  to  us,  were  Richard  Donovan,  Henry  Corliss, 
Jerry  Hobbs,  Thomas  Bonney,  and  George  Weymouth. 
The  elder  salt  called  himself  John  Somers ;  though  it 
leaked  out  shortly  after  that  he  had  formerly  flourished 
under  the  less  euphonious  patronymic  of  Solomon  Trull. 

Went  home  that  evening,  and  the  next  day  advertised 
for  a  cook.  It  was  answered  by  three  colored  "  gem- 
men,"  two  of  whom  modestly  withdrew  their  application 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  13 

when  they  found  where  we  were  going,  not  caring  to 
brave  the  chill  of  polar  latitudes.  The  other,  who  was 
not  a  little  tattered  in  his  wardrobe,  and  correspondingly 
reckless,  was  quite  willing  to  set  his  face  toward  the 
pole.  Although  but  recently  from  "  Sou'  Car'liny,  SJIT," 
and  black  as  a  crow,  he  assured  us  he  could  stand  the 
cold  "  jes'  like  a  fly,  sar." 

"  What  name  ?  "  Raed  asked. 

"  Charles  Sumner  Harris,  sar.  Been  cook  on  oyster- 
schooner,  sar." 

"  Charles  Sumner  Harris ! "  exclaimed  Wade,  who 
was  coming  in.  "  You  never  wore  that  name  in  South 
Carolina." 

"  No,  sar ;  lately  'dopted  it,  sar." 

"  What  was  your  old  name  ?  "  demanded  Wade,  look- 
ing at  him  as  if  he  was  about  to  give  him  five  hundred 
lashes. 

The  man  hesitated. 

"  When  you  were  a  slave,  I  mean.  Yes,  you  were : 
don't  deny  it." 

"  They  called  me  Palmleaf  den,  sar." 

"  Very  well :  that's  what  I  shall  call  you.  None  of 
your  Charles  Sumner  Harrises ! " 

"Oh!  don't  bully  him,"  Kit  said.  "Give  him  a 
chance  for  himself." 

"We  shall  see  enough  of  his  airs,"  Wade  muttered. 

He  was  a  rather  hard-looking  citizen.*  We  engaged 
him,  however,  at  thirty  dollars  a  month ;  and  it  is  but 
simple  justice  to  him  and  his  race  to  add,  that,  like  the 
traditionary  singed  cat,  he  did  better  than  his  genera] 
appearance  would  have  guaranteed  at  that  time. 


14  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

The  next  morning  we  wrote  to  Capt.  Hazard  with  di« 
rections  to  take  "The  Curlew"  into  Gloucester  as  soon 
as  the  carpenter-work  was  finished.  Pie  would  need  two 
or  three  hands  temporarily.  These  were  to  be  hired,  and 
their  car-fare  hack  to  Portland  paid,  at  our  expense. 

Another  matter  now  came  up.  It  was  quite  possible 
that  we  might  encounter  ice  at  the  entrance  of  Davis 
Straits,  as  well  as  in  Hudson  Straits,  if  we  should  ven- 
ture in  there :  indeed,  we  might  be  caught  in  the  ice. 
"The  Curlew,"  though  a  stanch  schooner,  was  only 
strengthened  in  the  ordinary  way. 

"Will  it  not  be  best  and  safest,"  Raed  argued,  "to 
have  her  strengthened  with  cross-beams  and  braces? 
A  few  strong  beams  of  this  sort  might  save  the  vessel 
from  being  crushed." 

As  we  were  held  to  pay  half  the  cost  of  the  schoonei 
in  case  of  such  an  accident,  to  say  nothing  of  our  per- 
sonal peril,  we  judged  it  prudent  to  neglect  no  means  to 
render  the  voyage  as  safe  as  possible.  Accordingly,  we 
went  out  to  Gloucester,  and  arranged  for  having  it  done ; 
also  for  getting  in  water  and  fuel.  In  short,  there  seemed 
no  end  to  the  items  to  be  seen  to.  If  ever  four  fellows 
were  kept  busy,  we  were  the  four  from  the  20th  of  May 
to  the  6th  of  June.  Our  ship-stores  we  bought  in  Bos- 
ton, and  had  them  sent  to  Gloucester  by  rail.  It  seemed 
desirable  for  us  landsmen  to  have  our  food  as  nearly  like 
that  we  had  been  in  the  habit  of  having  as  possible. 
We  accordingly  purchased  five  barrels  of  flcur  (not  a 
little  of  it  spoiled)  at  eight  dollars  per  barrel ;  three  of 
salt  pork  at  sixteen  dollars  per  barrel ;  two  of  beef  at 
twelve  dollars ;  six  of  potatoes  at  two  dollars  and  fifty 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  15 

cents  ;  two  fifty-pound  tubs  of  butter  at  thirty-five  centg 
per  pound;  coffee,  tea,  sugar,  and  "preserves"  to  the  tune 
of  sixty  dollars  ;  and  two  hundred  pounds  corn-meal, 
four  dollars.  .  .  .  Then  there  were  a  score  of  other  lit- 
tle necessaries,  amounting  to  near  fifty  dollars  ;  in  all,  a 
bill  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  dollars.  These 
stores  were  bought  at  >our  own  suggestion.  It  would 
have  been  better  to  have  taken  the  advice  of  some  expe- 
rienced shipmaster :  it  might  have  cost  us  less,  and  we 
should  afterwards  have  fared  better,  to  have  done  so. 

I  remember  that  we  took  along  a  lot  of  confection 
eries,  both  for  our  own  delectation  and  also  to  "treat" 
the  Esquimaux  on  !  That  was  a  wild  shot.  As  well 
offer  an  Esquimau  cold  boiled  parsnip  as  a  stick  of  candy. 
We  also  had  two  boxes  of  lemons !  Which  of  us  was 
responsible  for  the  proposition  for  lemonade  in  Hudson 
Straits  has  never  been  satisfactorily  settled.  We  none 
of  us  can  remember  how  the  lemons  came  on  board. 
Wade  says  they  were  bought  as  an  antidote  for  sea-sick- 
ness. A  far  more  sensible  article  of  traffic  was  twenty 
dollars'  worth  of  iron  in  small  bars ;  four  dozen  large 
jack-knives ;  twenty  butcher-knives,  and  the  same  num- 
ber of  hatchets.  We  had  also  a  web  of  red  flannel  at 
twenty  dollars ;  in  all,  ninety  dollars. 

For  mattresses,  blankets,  "comforters,"  and  buffalo- 
skins,  there  was  expended  the  sum  of  a  hundred  and 
twenty-three  dollars.  Ten  Springfield  rifles  at  ten  dol- 
lars each  (bought  at  an  auction-sale),  with  a  quantity  of 
cartridges,  one  hundred  and  twelve  dollars.  For  an 
old  six-po.md  howitzer,  purchased  by  Capt.  Mazard  from 
a  schooner  suppose  1  to  have  been  engaged  in  the  slave- 


!(}  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

trade,  nineteen  dollars ;  and  for  ammunition  (powder, 
iron  shot,  and  a  lot  of  small  bullets),  thirty-seven  dol- 
lars. 

For  firing  at  seals  or  bears  from  the  deck  of  the 
schooner,  we  had  made,  at  Messrs.  R.  &  Co.'s  machine- 
shop,  a  large  rifle  of  about  an  inch  bore,  and  set  like  a 
miniature  cannon  in  a  wrought-iron  frame,  arranged  with 
a  swivel  for  turning  it,  and  a  screw  for  elevating  or  de- 
pressing the  muzzle.  This  novel  weapon  was,  as  I  must 
needs  own,  one  of  my  projection,  and  was  always  a  subject 
for  raillery  from  my  comrades.  Its  cost,  including  the 
mounting,  was  ninety-seven  dollars.  In  all,  three  hundred 
and  eighty-eight  dollars. 

Then  they  were  other  bills,  including  the  cost  of  sev- 
eral nautical  telescopes,  also  ice-anchors,  ice-chisels, 
sounding-line,  hawsers,  &c.,  to  the  sum  of  a  hundred 
and  three  dollars. 

The  lumber  and  carpenter  work  on  "  The  Curlew  "  at 
Portland  made  a  bill  of  a  hundred  and  nine  dollars ; 
seamen's  wages  to  Gloucester,  with  car-fare  back,  nine- 
teen dollars;  bracing  and  strengthening  the  schooner, 
sixty-seven  dollars  ;  cost  of  getting  in  fuel  and  water, 
thirty-three  dollars ;  and  other  bills  to  the  amount  of 
forty-nine  dollars :  in  all,  two  hundred  and  seventy-seveif 
dollars.  We  had  thus  to  pay  out  at  the  start  over  eleven 
hundred  dollars.  Capt.  Mazard,  too,  was  kept  as  busy 
as  ourselves  superintending  the  work,  putting  the  vessel 
in  ballast,  &c.  Indeed,  it's  no  small  job  to  get  ready  foi 
such  a  cruise.  We  had  no  idea  of  it  when  we  began. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Up  Anchor,  and  away.  — What  the  Old  Folks  thought  of  it.  — The  Nar- 
rator's Preface.  —  "  Squeamish."  —  A  North-easter.  —  Foggy.  —  Th« 
Schooner  "Catfish."  —  Catching  Cod- Fish  on  the  Grand  Bank.  —  The 
First  Ice.  —  The  Polar  Current.  —  The  Lengthening  Day.  —  Cape  Fare- 
well.—  We  bear  away  for  Cape  Resolution.  —  Hudson's  Straits.  —  Its 
Ice  and  Tides. 

[In  Wash's  manuscript,  the  voyage  as  far  as  Cape  Resolution 
occupies  four  chapters.  We  have  been  obliged  .to  condense  it  into 
one,  as  indicated  by  periods.  —  ED.] 

ON  the  afternoon  of  the  9th  of  June,  Capt.  Hazard 
telegraphed,  "  Can  sail  to-morrow  morning  if  the 
winds  serves." 

We  had  heen  ready  several  days,  waiting  for  the  last 
joh,  —  strengthening  the  schooner. 

Good-by  was  said ;  and,  going  out  to  Gloucester,  we 
went  on  board  to  pass  the  night. 

As  some  of  our  readers  may  perhaps  feel  inclined  to 
ask  what  our  "  folks  "  said  to  this  somewhat  adventurous 
departure,  it  may  as  well  be  stated  that  we  were  obliged 
to  go  considerably  in  opposition  to  their  wishes,  advice, 
counsel ;  in  short,  every  thing  that  could  be  said  save  a 
downright  veto.  It  was  unavoidable  on  our  part.  They 
could  not  be  brought  to  look  upon  our  (or  rather  Raed's) 
project  of  self-education  as  we  did  they  saw  only  tho 
2  17 


18  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

danger  of  the  sea.  Had  we  done  as  they  advised,  we 
should  have  staid  at  home.  I  shall  not  take  it  upon  me 
to  say  what  we  ought  to  have  done.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  went,  or  this  narrative  would  never  have  been  writ- 
ten. Nor  can  I  say  conscientiously,  by  way  of  mor- 
al, that  we  were  ever,  for  any  great  length  of  time, 
sorry  that  we  went :  on  the  contrary,  I  now  believe  it 
far  the  best  way  we  could  have  spent  our  money  ;  though 
the  experience  was  a  rough  one.  It  may  also  be  added, 
that  we  did  not  publicly  state  our  intention  of  going  so 
far  north  as  Labrador ;  one  reason  for  this  being,  that 
we  were  in  no  wise  certain  we  should  go  farther  than  St. 
John's,  Newfoundland. 

Our  "  saloon "  was  arranged  with  a  sort  of  divan,  or 
wide  seat,  along  the  starboard-side,  at  about  chair-height. 
On  this  we  laid  our  mattresses  and  blankets.  Each  had 
his  bunk,  this  divan  serving  in  the  place  of  berths.  The 
captain  had  his  toward  the  forward  end  of  the  apartment. 
Guard  bunked  directly  under  him  on  an  old  jacket  and 
pants.  Along  the  port-side  there  was  made  fast  a  strong 
broad  shelf,  at  table-height,  running  the  entire  length  : 
this  was  for  our  books  and  instruments.  The  captain 
had  the  forward  end  of  it,  the  part  fronting  his  bunk, 
for  his  charts  and  papers.  Before  this  table  there  was  a 
long  bench,  fixed  conveniently  for  sitting  to  read  or 
write.  This  bench,  together  with  three  strong  bar- 
room-chairs  and  four  camp-stools,  made  up  our  sitting- 
accommodations.  From  pegs  over  the  divan  and  table 
there  "hung  a  miscellaneous  collection  of  powder-horns, 
rifles,  fishing-tackle,  tarpauling-hats,  rubber  coats,  and 
"  sou'-westers ; "  nor  had  I  failed  to  bring  along  the  old 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  19 

Sharpe'u  rifle  which  had  done  such  good  service  among 
the  moose-stags  of  Katahdin. 

.  .  .  We  had  brought  "Pahnleaf"  with  us,  and  now 
installed  him  in  the  galley.  As  a  specimen  of  his  art, 
we  had  him  make  muffins  and  tea  that  evening.  Very 
fair  they  were,  with  butter  and  canned  peaches. 

The  men  came  down  during  the  evening,  having  been 
previously  notified,  and  were  assigned  to  their  berths. 
We  boys  turned  in  at  about  eleven,  and  were  only 
aroused  next  morning  by  the  rattle  of  blocks,  clank  of 
the  windlass,  and  trampling  of  feet^  on  deck. 

"We're  off!"  exclaimed  Raed,  starting  up.  "Turn 
out,  and  say  farewell  to  '  our  native  countree.' " 

We  stumbled  up  on  deck ;  for  it  was  still  quite  dark : 
only  a  pale-bright  belt  along  the  ocean  to  the  eastward 
showed  the  far-off  coming  of  the  day.  The  shore  and 
the  village  looked  black  as  night.  We  were  already 
several  hundred  yards  from  the  wharf.  A  smart,  cold 
breeze  gushed  out  of  the  north-west.  The  huge,  dim- 
white  sails  were  filling :  "  The  Curlew "  gathered  way, 
and  stood  out  to  sea.  The  chilling  breeze,  the  motion,  the 
ink-black  waves,  and  their  sharp  cracking  on  the  beach, 
were  altogether  a  little  disheartening  at  first,  coming  so 
suddenly  from  sleep.  We  felt  not  a  little  inclined  to 
shrink  back  to  our  warm  blankets ;  but,  mastering  this 
feeling,  braced  our  courage,  and  drew  breath  for  our  long 
cruise.  The  captain  came  aft. 

"  Ah !  good-morning ! "  he  cried,  seeing  us  hud- 
died  about  the  companion-way.  "I  meant  to  get 
off  without  waking  you.  We  made  too  much  noise,  I 
suppose.  Smart  breeze  this.  Make  ten  knots  on  it, 


20  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

easy.  Could  put  you  to  the  north  pole  in  fifteen  days 
with  such  a  capful,  —  if  there  were  no  ice  in  the  way," 
he  added. 

"  We  might  soon  be  at  Hudson  Straits  were  this  to 
hold,"  laughed  Kit. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  captain.  "  Eight  days  would 
do  it.  But  of  course  this  is  mere  fine  talk.  You  are 
not  to  look  for  any  thing  of  the  sort." 

"  We  don't,"  said  Kaed.  "  But  how  long  do  you  sup- 
pose it  will  take  to  work  up  there  with  ordinary 
weather  ?  " 

"Oh!  well,  for  a  guess,  eighteen  days,  —  anywhere 
from  eighteen  to  twenty-five.  Oughtn't  to  be  over 
twenty-five  with  this  schooner.  Will  sail  thirteen  knots 
on  a  wind." 

.  .  .  We  were  now  fairly  clear  of  the  shore.  The  wind 
freshened.  "The  Curlew"  dashed  forward,  rising  and 
falling  with  the  swells.  The  whole  east  was  reddening. 
The  dark  spar  of  the  bowsprit  rose  and  fell  through  it. 
It  seemed  a  good  omen  to  be  going  toward  the  light. 
Ere  the  sun  met  us  on  the  sea,  we  were  twelve  miles  out 
of  Gloucester.  .  .  . 

Kit  had  often  complained  that  he  had  been  unable  to 
write  up  the  account  of  our  Katahdin  expedition  so  well 
as  he  could  have  done  had  he  known  beforehand  that  it 
would  have  fallen  to  him  to  do.  At  his  suggestion, 
Kaed,  Wade,  and  myself,  this  morning,  drew  lots  to  see 
who  would  be  the  historian  of  the  present  cruise.  The 
reader,  doubtless,  has  already  inferred  which  of  us  got  the 
short  lot.  Well,  it  was  fun  for  the  others,  though  any 
thing  but  fun  for  me.  Nothing  but  a  strong  sense  of 


LEFT   OX  LABRADOR.  1>1 

restraining  shame,  added  to  the  rather  inconvenient  dis- 
tance from  land,  prevented  me  from  deserting.  Nature 
never  designed  me  for  a  writer.  Of  that  I  am  convinced  ; 
and  doubtless  my  readers  will  not  long  differ  with  me. 
This  is  my  first  literary  effort.  If  I  know  myself,  it  will 
also  be  my  last.  Under  these  circumstances,  I  beg  that 
such  of  my  young  fellow-citizens  as  may  happen  to  come 
upon  this  narrative  (and  I  am  not  ambitious  to  have  the 
number  large)  will  kindly  forbear  to  criticise  it ;  for  it 
will  not  bear  criticism.  Such  of  the  facts  and  incidents 
of  our  voyage  as  I  have  thought  would  be  of  interest 
I  have  tried  to  write  out.  Strictly  nautical  terms  and 
phrases  I  have  sought  to  avoid :  first,  because  I  believed 
them  of  no  great  interest  to  the  general  reader ;  second, 
because,  with  this  my  first  sea- trip,  I  have  not  become 
adept  enough  in  their  use  to  "swing"  them  with  the 
fluent  grace  of  your  true-going,  irresistible  old  salt ;  and 
from  any  other  source  they  are,  to  my  mind,  unendurable. 

In  the  plan  of  education  we  have  marked  out  for  our- 
selves, it  has  not  been  our  intention  to  become  sailors. 
We  would  merely  use  the  sea  and  its  ships  as  a  means 
of  conveyance  in  our  scheme  of  travel. 

.  .  .  Breakfast  at  six  o'clock ;  two  messes, — one  of  the 
crew,  the  other  comprising  our  party  and  the  captain. 
The  men  had  boiled  potatoes,  fried  pork,  corn-bread,  and 
biscuit.  At  our  table  we  had  roast  potatoes  and  butter 
with  corn-bread,  then  biscuit  and  butter  with  canned 
tomatoes.  After  breakfast,  we  went  on  deck  a  while ;  but 
the  motion  was  far  too  great  for  comfort.  The  breeze  held. 
Tl  e  coast  of  Massachusetts  was  low  in  the  west.  To 
the  north,  the  mountains  of  Maine  showed  blue  on  the 


22  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

horizon.  We  went  below  to  read.  Kead  had  bought, 
borrowed,  and  secured  every  work  he  could  hear  of  on 
northern  voyages  and  exploration,  particularly  those 
into  Hudson  Bay.  It  was  our  intention  to  thoroughly 
lead  up  the  subject  during  our  voyage  ;  in  a  word,  to  get 
as  good  an  idea  of  the  northern  coast  as  possible  from 
books,  and  confirm  this  idea  from  actual  observation. 
This  was  the  substance  of  B-aed's  plan  of  study. 

.  .  .  By  eleven  o'clock  we  had  grown  a  little  sea-sick, 
— just  the  slightest  feeling  of  nausea.  Kit  shuts  his 
book,  rests  his  arm  on  the  table,  and  leans  his  head  on  it. 

"  You  sick  ?  "  demands  Raed. 

"  Oh,  no  !  not  much  ;  just  a  little  squeamish." 

Presently  Wade  lies  down  on  his  mattress,  and  I  im- 
mediately ask,  — 

"  Much  sick,  Wade  ?  "    To  which  he  promptly  replies,  — 

"  Oh,  no  !  squeamish  a  little ;  that's  all." 

By  and  by  the  skipper  looks  down  to  inquire,  "  Sick 
here,  anybody  ?  "  To  which  we  all  answer  at  once,  — 

"  Oh,  no !  only  a  bit  squeamish." 

Squeamish  was  the  word  for  it  till  near  night,  when 
we  seemed  suddenly  to  rally  from  it,  though  the  motion 
continued  the  same  ;  but  the  wind  had  veered  to  the 
south,  and  almost  wholly  lulled.  We  slept  pretty  well 
that  night ;  but  the  next  forenoon  the  nausea  returned, 
and  stuck  by  us  all  day.  Every  one  who  has  been  to  sea 
knows  how  such  a  day  passes.  We  had  expected  it, 
lowever,  and  bore  it  as  lightly  as  possible. 

.  .  .  On  the  third  morning  out  we  found  it  raining, 
with  the  wind  north-east.  The  schooner  was  kept  aa 
near  it  as  possible,  making  about  three  knots  an  hour, 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  23 

The  wind  increased  during  the  forenoon.  By  eleven 
o'clock  there  was  a  smart  gale  on.  The  rain  drove 
fiercely.  We  grew  sick  enough. 

"  This  is  worse  than  the  '  poison  spring '  at  Kata!i- 
din ! "  groaned  Kit. 

The  skipper  came  down. 

"  Is  it  a  big  gale  ?  "  Raed  managed  to  ask. 

"  Just  an  ordinary  north-easter." 

"Well,  then,  I  never  wish  to  meet  an  extraordinary 
one  ! "  gasped  Wade. 

The  captain  mixed  us  some  brandy  and  water  from 
his  own  private  supply,  which  we  took  (as  a  medicine). 
But  it  wouldn't  stay  down :  nothing  would  stay  down. 
Our  stomachs  refused  to  bear  the  weight  of  any  thing 
Night  came  on  :  a  wretched  night  it  was  for  us.  "  The 
Curlew  "  floundered  on.  The  view  on  deck  was  doubt- 
less grand  j  but  we  had  neither  the  legs  nor  the  dispo- 
sition to  get  up.  .  .  .  Some  time  about  midnight,  a  dozen 
of  our  six-pound  shots,  which  had  been  sewed  up  in  a 
coarse  sack  and  thrown  under  the  table-shelf,  by  their 
continued  motion  worked  a  gap  in  the  stitches ;  and  three 
or  four  of  them  rolled  out,  and  began  a  series  of  races 
from  one  end  of  the  cabin  to  the  other,  smashing  reck- 
lessly into  the  rick  of  chairs  and  camp-stools  stowed  in 
the  forward  end.  Yet  I  do  not  believe  one  of  us  would 
have  got  up  to  secure  those  shot,  even  if  we  had  known 
they  would  go  through  the  side  :  I  am  pretty  certain  1 
should  not.  They  went  back  and  forth  at  will,  till  the 
captain,  hearing  the  noise,  came  down,  and  after  a  great 
fcmount  of  dodging  and  grabbing,  which  might  have 
been  amuping  at  any  other  time,  succeeded  in  capturing 


24  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

the  truants  and  locking  them  up.  The  next  day  it  was 
no  better:  wind  and  rain  continued.  We  were  not 
quite  so  sick,  but  even  less  disposed  to  get  up,  talk,  or 
do  any  thing,  save  to  lie  flat  on  our  backs.  We  heard 
the  sailors  laughing  at  and  abusing  Palmleaf,  who  was 
dreadfully  sick,  and  couldn't  cook  for  them.  Yet  we 
felt  not  the  least  spark  of  sympathy  for  him :  I  do  not 
think  we  should  have  interfered  had  they  thrown  him 
overboard.  Wade  called  the  poor  wretch  in,  and  ordered 
him,  so  sick  he  could  scarcely  stand,  to  make  a  bowl  ot 
gruel ;  and,  when  he  undertook  to  explain  how  bad  he 
felt,  we  all  reviled  him,  and  bade  him  go  about  his  busi- 
ness. 

"  Nothin'  like  dis  on  de  oyster  schoonah,"  we  heard 
him  muttering  as  he  staggered  out. 

.  .  .  The  storm  had  blown  us  off  our  course  to  the 
south-east  considerably ;  and  the  next  morning  we  tacked 
to  the  northward,  and  continued  due  north  all  that  day 
and  the  next.  It  may  have  been  fancy ;  but  we  all  dated 
our  recovery  from  this  change  of  course.  It  had  stopped 
raining,  and  the  wind  gradually  went  down. 

Now  that  the  nausea  had  passed  off  we  were  hungry 
as  wolves,  and  kept  Palmleaf,  who  was  7iow  quite  recov- 
ered, busy  cooking  all  day  long.  .  .  .  The  weather  con- 
tinued cloudy.  The  view  from  the  damp  deck  was  dull 
to  the  last  degree.  Capt.  Hazard  was  in  considerable 
doubt  as  to  our  latitude.  Not  a  glimpse  of  the  sun  had 
he  been  able  to  catch  for  five  days;  and  during  this  time 
we  had  been  sailing  sometimes  very  fast,  then  scarcely 
making  way  in  the  teeth  of  the  strong  north-easter.  To 
the  north  and  north-east  the  fog  banks  hung  low  on  tha 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  25 

aea.  So  light  was  the  wind,  that  the  sails  scarcely  filled 
The  schooner  seemed  merely  to  drift.  .  .  .  Toward 
night  we  entered  among  the  fog-hanks.  The  whole  face 
of  the  sea  steamed  like  a  boiling  kettle.  The  mist  rose 
thin  and  gauze-like.  We  could  scarcely  see  the  length 
of  the  deck.  It  was  blind  work  sailing  in  such  obscurity, 
—  possibly  dangerous. 

*     "  Have  you  any  idea  where  we  are,  captain  ?  "  Kaed 
asked.     We  stood  peering  ahead"  from  the  bow. 

"  Somewhere  off  Newfoundland.  On  the  Grand  Bank, 
I  think.  Fog  indicates  that.  Always  foggy  here  this 
time  o'  year." 

"  It  is  here  that  the  gulf  stream  meets  the  cold  cur- 
rents and  ice  from  Baffin's  Bay,"  said  Kit.  "  The  warm 
current  meeting  the  cold  one  causes  the  fog :  so  they 
say." 

"I  have  seen  the  statement,"  remarked  Raed,  "that 
these  great  banks  are  all  raised  from  the  ocean-bottom 
by  the  debris  brought  along  by  the  gulf  stream  and  the 
current  from  Davis  Straits." 

"  But  I  have  read  that  they  are  raised  by  the  melting 
of  icebergs,"  said  Wade.  "  The  iceberg  has  lots  of  sand 
and  stones  frozen  into  it :  when  it  melts,  this  matter 
sinks ;  and,  in  the  course  of  ages,  the  '  banks '  here  have 
been  formed." 

"  Perhaps  both  causes  have  had  a  hand  in  it,"  said 
Kit. 

"  That  looks  most  probable,"  remarked  Capt.  Hazard. 
"These  scientific  men  are  very  apt  to  differ  on  such 
subjects.  One  will  observe  phenomena,  and  ascribe  it 
wholly  to  one  cause,  when  perhaps  a  half-dozen  causes 


26  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

have  been  at  <rfvtk.  Another  man  will  ascribe  it  wholly 
to  another  of  thbb&  causes.  And  thus  they  seem  to  con- 
tradict each  othei,  when  they  are  both,  in  part,  right. 
I've  noticed  that  vtry  frequently  since  I  began  to  read 
the  scientific  boots*  on  oceanic  matters.  They  draw 
their  conclusions  to«  hastily,  and  are  too  positive  on 
doubtful  subjects." 

I  have  often  thought  «jf  this  remark  of  Capt.  Mazard 
since  when  reading  some  of  the  "  strong  points  "  of  our 
worthy  scientists. 

"How  deep  is  it  here,  iLr  a  guess  ?  "  asked  Wade. 

"  Oh !  for  a  guess,  a  hunched  fathoms  ;  about  that." 

"Too  deep  for  cod-fishing  hore  ?  "  Kaed  inquired. 

"  Rather  deep.  We'll  try  them,  however,  in  the 
morning." 

Suddenly,  as  we  were  talking,  a  horn  —  a  genuine 
old-fashioned  dinner-horn  —  peal<>d  out,  seemingly  not 
a  hundred  yards  ahead. 

"Port  your  helm  there!"  shouted  the  skipper  to 
Bonney,  who  was  at  the  wheel.  The  old  sea-dog,  Trull, 
caught  up  a  tin  bucket  setting  near,  and  began  drum- 
ming furiously ;  while  the  skipper,  diving  down  the  com- 
panion-way, brought  up  a  loaded  musket,  which  he 
hastily  discharged  over  his  head. 

"  Shout,  halloo,  scream ! "  he  sang  out  to  us.  "Make 
all  the  noise  you  can,  to  let  them  know  where  we 
are!" 

The  schooner  sheered  off,  minding  her  helm ;  and,  at 
the  same  moment,  we  saw  the  dim  outline  of  a  sn:all 
\ressel  almost  under  the  bows. 

"  What  ship  is  that  ?  "  demanded  Capt.  Mazard. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  27 

"  Schooner  '  Catfish '  of  Gloucester,"  replied  a  boyish 
voice. 

"  Where  bound  ?  " 

"  Home." 

"  Can  you  give  us  the  latitude  ?  " 

"  Can't  do  it,  skippy.  Haven't  seen  the  sun  for  a 
week.  Not  far  from  forty-five  degrees,  I  reckon." 

"  Are  we  in  any  danger  of  Cape  E-ace  ?  " 

"  Not  a  bit.  We're  more  than  a  hundred  miles  east 
of  it,  1  think." 

The  little  schooner,  of  not  more  than  sixty  tons,  drifted 
slowly  past.  There  were  seven  hands  on  deck ;  all  boys 
of  sixteen  and  eighteen,  save  one.  This  is  the  training 
which  makes  the  Gloucester  sailors  so  prized  for  our 
navy. 

.  .  .  During  the  evening,  we  heard  at  a  distance  the 
deep,  grum  whistle  of  the  Inman  steamer  going  down 
to  Halifax,  —  whistling  at  intervals  to  warn  the  fisher- 
men. It  continued  foggy  all  night,  but  looked  thinner 
by  nine  next  morning.  The  captain  brought  up  an 
armful  of  out-riggers  (a  short  spar  three  or  four  feet 
long  to  set  in  the  side-rail,  with  a  small  pulley-block  in 
the  upper  end  to  run  a  line  through). 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  he,  setting  the  out-riggers.  "  we 
will  try  the  cod.  —  Palmleaf!  Palmleaf!  Here,  you 
sunburnt  son !  A  big  chunk  of  pork  !  " 

"  They  won't  bite  it,"  said  old  Trull. 

"I've  sometimes  caught  'em  with  it,"  replied  the 
captain.  "I>'s  pork  or  nothing.  We've  no  clams 
nor  mauhaden  (a  small  fish  of  the  shad  family)  to  lure 
them" 


28  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

The  stout/  cod-hooks,  with  their  strong  lineii  lines, 
were  reeved  through  the  blocks,  baited,  and  let  down 
into  the  green  water.  For  some  time  we  fished  in 
silence.  No  bites.  We  kept  patiently  fishing  for  fifteen 
minutes.  It  began  to  look  as  if  old  Trull  was  right. 
Presently  Kit  jerked  hastily. 

"  Got  one  ?  "  we  all  demanded. 

"  Got  something ;  heavy  too." 

"  Haul  him  up ! "  cried  the  skipper. 

Kit  hauled.  It  made  the  block  creak  and  the  out- 
rigger bend.  Yard  after  yard  of  the  wet  line  was  pulled 
in;  and  by  and  by  the  head  of  a  tremendous  fellow 
parted  the  water,  and  came  up,  one,  two,  three  feet, 
writhing  and  bobbing  about. 

"  Twenty  pounds,  if  an  ounce ! "  shouted  young  Dono- 
van. 

"  Heave  away ! "  cried  the  captain.  "  Now  swing  him 
over  the  rail ! " 

They  were  swinging  him  in,  had  almost  got  their 
hands  on  him,  when  the  big  fish  gave  a  sudden  squirm. 
The  hook,  which  was  but  slightly  caught  in  the  side  of 
its  mouth,  tore  out.  Down  he  went,  —  chud  ! 

Such  a  yell  of  despair  as  arose  !  such  mutual  abuse 
as  broke  out  all  round !  till,  just  at  that  moment,  Wade 
cried,  "I  have  one!"  when  all  attention  was  turned 
to  him./  Slowly  he  draws  it  up.  We  were  all  watching. 
But  'twas  a  smaller  one. 

"About  a  seven-pounder,"  pronounces  the  captain, 
eafely  landing  him  on  deck,  where  he  was  unhooked, 
and  left  to  wriggle  and  jump  out  his  agonies. 

A  minute  later,  Raed  had  out  a  "ten-pounder;"  and, 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  29 

having  once  begun  to  bite,  tbey  kept  at  it,  until  the 
deck  grew  lively  with  their  frantic  leaping. 

"  Got  all  we  want ! "  cried  the  skipper  after  abou  t  an 
hour  of  this  sort  of  thing.  "  There's  a  good  two  hundred 
weight  of  them.  —  Here,  Palmleaf,  pick  'em  up,  dress 
'em,  and  put  'em  in  pickle :  save  what  we  want  for  din- 
ner. — Now,  you  Donovan  and  Hobbs,  bear  a  hand  with 
those  buckets.  Rinse  off  the  bulwarks,  and  wash  up  the 
deck." 

"  This  is  the  kind  of  sport  they  have  on  a  cod-fisher 
every  day,  I  suppose,"  said  Raed. 

"Yes;  but  it  gets  mighty  stale  when  you  have  to 
follow  it  for  a  month,"  replied  Donovan.  "I  know  what 
cod-fishing  is." 

.  .  .  Toward  noon  the  sun  began  to  show  its  broad 
disk,  dimly  outlined  in  the  white  mists.  The  captain 
ran  for  his  sextant ;  and  an  observation  was  caught, 
which,  being  worked  up,  gave  our  latitude  at  45°  35'. 
We  had  probably  made  in  the  neighborhood  of  thirty 
miles  during  the  night :  so  that  the  boys  on  "  The  Cat- 
fish" had  given  a  very  shrewd  guess,  to  say  the  least.  In 
the  afternoon  we  had  a  fair  breeze  from  the  south-east. 
All  g«iil  was  made,  and  we  bowled  along  at  a  grand  rate. 
Early  the  next  morning  we  saw  the  first  ice,  —  three  or 
four  low,  irregular  masses,  showing  white  on  the  sea,  and 
bearing  down  toward  us  from  the  north-west  with  the 
polar  current.  This  current,  coming  along  the  coast  of 
Labrador,  is  always  laden  with  ice  at  this  season.  To 
avoid  it,  we  now  bore  away  to  the  north-east,  keeping 
for  several  days  on  a  direct  course  for  Iceland ;  then 
gradually  —  describing  the  arc  of  a  circle  —  came  round 


30  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

west  into  the  latitude  of  Cape  Farewell,  the  southern 
point  of  Greenland. 

.  .  .  Each  day,  as  we  got  farther  north,  the  sun  set 
later,  and  rose  earlier ;  till,  on  the  28th  of  June,  its  bright 
red  disk  was  scarcely  twenty  minutes  below  the  northern 
horizon. 

.  .  .  On  the  3d  of  July  we  discerned  Cape  Farewell, 
—  a  mountainous  headland,  crowned  with  snow,  at  a 
distance  of  fifteen  or  twenty  leagues. 

From  this  point,  Cape  Resolution,  on  the  north  side 
of  the  entrance  into  Hudson  Straits,  bears  west  ten  de- 
grees north,  and  is  distant  not  far  from  seven  hundred 
miles.  The  wind  serving,  we  bore  away  for  it. 

.  .  .  During  June  and  July,  Hudson  Straits  are  full  of 
ice  driving  out  into  the  Atlantic.  This  ice  forms  in 
the  winter  in  vast  quantities  in  the  myriads  of  inlets 
and  bays  on  both  sides  of  the  straits.  The  spring 
breaks  it  up,  and  the  high  tides  beat  it  in  pieces.  It  is 
rare  that  a  vessel  can  enter  the  straits  during  June  for 
the  outcoming  ice;  but  by  July  it  has  become  suf- 
ficiently broken  up  and  dispersed  to  allow  of  an  en- 
trance by  keeping  close  up  to  the  northern  side,  which 
has  always  been  found  to  be  freest  from  ice  in  July  and 
August ;  while,  on  coming  out  in  September,  it  is  best 
to  hug  the  southern  main  (land)  as  closely  as  possible. 

On  our  voyage  up  we  had  taken  great  pains  to  read 
and  compare  every  account  we  could  find  regarding  both 
the  ice  and  the  general  character  of  the  straits.  Our  plan 
was  to  make  Cape  Resolution,  wait  for  a  fair  wind,  and 
slip  into  the  straits  early  in  the  day,  so  as  to  get  as  fai 
up  as  possible  ere  night  came  on.  A  person  who  has 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  31 

never  been  there  can  form  no  idea  of  the  tremendous 
force  with  which  the  tide  sets  into  the  st-rato,  tb^  velo- 
city of  the  currents,  and  the  amazing  smash 
among  the  ice.  . . . 


CHAPTER  IIL 

Cape  Resolution.  —  The  Entrance  into  Hudson's  Straits.— The  Sun  li 
the  North-east.  —  The  Resolution  Cliffs.  —  Sweating  among  Icebergs. 

—  A  Shower  and  a  Fog.  —  An  Anxious  Night.  —  A  Strange  Rumbling. 

—  Singular  Noises  and  Explosions. — Running  into  an  Iceberg.  —  In 
Tow.  —  A  Big  Hailstone  drops  on  Deck.  —  Boarding  an  Iceberg.  — 
Solution  of  the  Explosions.  —  A  Lucky  Escape. 

"  ~T~  AND  and  ice,  land  and  ice,  ho  ! "  sang  out  our 
I  J  old  sea-dog  from  his  lookout  in  the  bow. 
'Twas  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  July.  We  had  ex- 
pected to  make  Cape  Resolution  the  evening  before. 
Kit  and  I  had  been  on  deck  till  one  o'clock,  watching 
in  the  gleaming  twilight.  Never  shall  I  forget  those 
twilights.  The  sun  was  not  out  of  sight  more  than 
three  hours  and  a  half,  and  the  whole  northern  semi- 
circle glowed  continuously.  It  shone  on  the  sails ;  it 
shone  on  the  sea.  The  great  glassy  faces  of  the  swells 
cast  it  back  in  phosphorescent  flashes.  The  patches  of 
ice  showed  white  as  chalk.  The  ocean  took  a  pale 
French  gray  tint.  Overhead  the  clouds  drifted  in  ghostly 
troops,  and  far  up  in  the  sky  an  unnatural  sort  of  glare 
eclipsed  the  sparkle  of  stars.  Properly  speaking,  there 
was  no  night.  One  could  read  easily  at  one  o'clock. 
Twilight  and  dawn  joined  hands.  The  sun  rose  far  up 
in  the  north-east.  Queer  nights  these !  Until  we  got 

32 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  33 

used  to  it,  or  rather  until  fatigue  conquered  us,  we  had 
no  little  difficulty  in  going  to  sleep.  We  were  not  ac- 
customed to  naps  in  the  daytime.  As  a  sort  of  com- 
promise, I  recollect  that  we  used  to  spread  an  old  sail 
over  the  skylight,  and  hang  up  blankets  over  the  bull's- 
eyes  in  the  stern,  to  keep  out  this  everlasting  day- 
light. We  needed  night.  Born  far  down  toward  the 
equinoxes,  we  sighed  for  our  intervals  of  darkness  and 
shadows.  But  we  got  used  to  it  after  a  fortnight  of 
gaping.  One  gets  used  to  any  thing,  every  thing. 
"  Use  is  second  nature,"  says  an  old  proverb.  It  is  more 
than  that :  it  is  Nature  herself. 

Land  and  ice,  ho  ! 

"  Tumble  out ! "  shouted  Eaed. 

It  was  half-past  three.  We  went  on  deck.  The  sun 
was  shining  brightly.  Scarcely  any  wind ;  sea  like  glass 
in  the  sunlight ;  ice  in  small  patches  all  about. 

"  Where's  your  land  ?  "  asked  Wade. 

"  Off  there,"  replied  young  Hobbs,  pointing  to  the 
north-west. 

Ah,  yes !  there  it  was,  —  a  line  of  dark  gray  cliffa, 
low  in  the  water.  Between  us  and  them  a  dozen  white 
icebergs  glittered  in  the  sun. 

"  Is  that  the  cape,  captain  ?  "  queried  Kit.  • 

"  Must  be,"  was  the  reply.  "  Same  latitude.  Can't 
l>e  any  thing  else.  Answers  to  the  chart  exactly." 

"  Oh  !  that's  Cape  Resolution  fast  enough,"  said  Eaed. 
"  Those  cliffs  correspond  with  the  descriptions,  I  should 
*ay." 

« How  far  off?  "  asked  Wade. 

"  Well,  seven  or  eight  leagues,"  replied  the  captain. 

3 


34  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  The  Button  Islands,  on  the  south  side  of  the  en- 
trance, ought  to  be  in  sight,  to  the  south-west,"  re- 
marked Raed,  looking  off  in  that  direction;  "hut  I 
don't  see  them,"  he  added. 

The  captain  got  his  glass,  and  climbed  up  to  the  gaff 
of  the  foresail. 

"  Yes,  there  'tis ! "  he  shouted.  "  Low  down ;  low 
land.  No  cliffs." 

"Why  are  they  called  <  Button  Isles'  on  the  chart?  " 
lie  asked,  sliding  down  the  shrouds.  "Is  it  because 
they  resemble  buttons  ?  " 

"No,"  said  Raed.  "They  were  named  for  Capt. 
Button,  who  sailed  through  here  more  than  a  century 
ago.  He  was  one  of  those  navigators  who  tried  so 
hard  to  find  the  ( north-west  passage '  by  sailing 
through  Hudson's  Straits.  During  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  London  merchants  sent  out  ex- 
peditions nearly  every  year  in  the  hope  of  finding  a 
passage  through  here  to  China  and  India.  This  Button 
was  one  of  their  captains." 

"  Then  this  low  land  to  the  south-west  of  us  is  Cape 
Chidleigh,  is  it  not  ?  "  said  Wade. 

"No,"  said  Raed.  "Cape  Chidleigh  is  the  main  land 
of  Labrador  down  to  the  south-east  of  the  Button  Isles. 
You  couldn't  see  that,  could  you,  captain  ?  " 

"  Saw  some  high  peaks  to  the  south,  far  down  on  the 
horizon.  Those  are  on  Labrador,  I  presume.  Couldn't 
Bay  whether  they  are  the  cape  proper  or  not.  They 
are  in  about  the  direction  of  the  cape  as  indicated  on 
the  chart." 

As  the  sun  rose  higher  a  breeze  sprang  up,  and  the 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  35 

sails  filled.  The  schooner  was  headed  "W.  N.  W.  to 
run  under  the  cape ;  Bonney  being  set  to  watch  sharp 
for  the  floating  ice. 

"  Coffee,  sar ! "  cried  Palmleaf  from  the  companion- 
way. 

We  went  down  to  breakfast  and  talk  over  matters 
with  the  captain.  It  was  decided  to  work  ip  under  the 
cape,  and  so,  hugging  the  land  on  the  north  side  as 
closely  as  possible,  get  into  the  strait  as  far  as  we  could 
that  day.  We  all  felt  anxious ;  for  though  the  sea 
was  now  smooth,  sky  clear,  and  the  wind  fair,  yet  we 
knew  that  it  was  rather  the  exception  than  the  average. 
The  idea  of  being  caught  here  „  among  these  cliffs  and 
icebergs  in  a  three-days'  fog  or  a  north-east  gale,  with 
the  whole  fury  of  the  Atlantic  at  our  backs,  was 
any  thing  but  encouraging.  The  advice  of  the  elder 
navigators,  "  to  seize  a  favorable  day  and  get  as  far  up 
the  straits  as  possible,"  kept  recurring  to  our  minds. 
The  words  had  an  ominous  sound.  They  were  the 
utterances  of  many  a  sad  experience. 

"There  never  could  be  a  better  day  nor  a  fairer 
wind,"  remarked  the  captain. 

"  Now's  our  chance  ;  I'm  convinced  of  it,"  said  Kit. 

The  mainsail,  which  had  been  taken  in  the  previous 
evening,  and  the  topsail,  were  both  set ;  and,  the  breeze 
freshening,  "The  Curlew"  rapidly  gathered  way. 
Considerable  care  had  to  be  used,  however,  to  avoid  the 
broad  cakes  of  ice  which  were  floating  out  all  around  us. 
Small  bits,  and  pieces  as  large  as  a  hogshead,  we  paid  no 
attention  to  ;  let  the  cut- water  knock  them  aside.  But 
there  were  plenty  of  large,  angular,  ugly-looking  masses 


36  LEFT  ON  LABRADCfi. 

which,  if  struck,  would  have  endangered  the  schooner'? 
side.  These  were  sheered  off  from  :  so  that  our  course 
was  made  up  of  a  series  of  curves  and  windings  in  and 
out.  It  seemed  odd  to  see  so  much  ice,  and  feel  the 
deadly  chill  of  the  water,  with  so  hot  a  sun  on  deck  that 
the  pitch  started  on  the  deal  planks.  In  our  com- 
panion-way the  thermometer  rose  to  eighty-seven 
degrees,  with  icebergs  glittering  at  every  point  of  the 
compass. 

By  eight  o'clock,  A.M.,  we  were  abreast  the  cliffs  of 
Resolution  Island,  at  a  distance  of  a  couple  of  miles. 
With  our  glasses  we  examined  them  attentively.  Hoary, 
gray,  and  bare,  they  were,  as  when  first  split  out  of  the 
earth's  flinty  crust,  and  thrust  above  the  waves.  The 
bun  poured  a  flood  of  warm  light  over  them ;  but  no  green 
thing  could  be  discerned.  Either  there  was  no  soil,  or 
else  the  bleak  frost-winds  effectually  checked  the  outcrop 
of  life.  To  the  south  the  Button  Islands  showed  like 
brown  patches  on  the  shimmering  waves.  The  width 
of  the  straits  at  this  point  is  given  on  the  chart  at 
twelve  leagues,  —  thirty-six  miles.  We  could  see  the 
land  on  either  side. 

By  eleven,  A.M.,  we  were  twenty  miles  inside  the  outer 
cape.  The  cliffs  continued  on  the  north  side,  and  the 
schooner  was  headed  up  within  a  mile  of  them.  There 
were  no  signs  of  reefs  or  sunken  ledges,  however ;  and, 
on  heaving  the  lead,  a  hundred  fathoms  of  line  were 
run  out  without  touching  bottom.  The  cliffs  seem  thus 
to  form  the  side  of  an  immense  chasm  partially  filled 
by  the  ocean.  Raed  estimated  their  height  above  the 
sea  to  be  near  four  hundred  feet.  At  the  distance  of  a 


LEFT  ON   LABRADOR.  37 

mile  they  appeared  to  tower  and  almost  impend  ovei 
us. 

Toward  noon  the  wind  flawed  for  half  an  hour,  then 
dropped  altogether.  The  current,  which  was  setting  out 
to.  sea,  began  to  drag  us  back  with  it  slowly.  There 
wasn't  a  breath  of  air  stirring.  Blazes  !  how  the  sun 
poured  down !  Guard  got  round  in  the  thin  shadow 
of  the  mainsail,  and  actually  lolled  among  icebergs. 
There  we  were  stuck.  That  is  one  of  the  disadvantages 
of  a  sailing-vessel :  you  have  to  depend  on  the  wind,  — 
the  most  capricious  thing  in  the  universe.  I  suppose 
the  air-current  had  veered  about  from  north-east  to 
north,  so  that  the  lofty  cliffs  intercepted  them  com- 
pletely. 

Dinner  was  eaten.  One  o'clock,  —  two  o'clock.  We 
were  glad  to  take  refuge  with  Guard  in  the  shade  of  the 
sails.  All  around  us  was  a  stillness  which  passes  words, 
broken  loudly  by  our  steps  on  the  hot  deck,  and  the 
occasional  graze  of  ice-cakes  against  the  sides.  We 
felt  uneasy  enough.  This  calm  was  ominous. 

"  There's  mischief  brewing  ! "  muttered  Kit ;  "  and 
here  we  are  in  the  very  jaws  of  the  straits ! " 

Since  the  wind  dropped,  the  ice  had  seemed  to 
thicken  ahead.  To  the  southward,  farther  out  from  the 
shore,  where  the  outward  current  was  stronger,  we  could 
see  it  driving  along  in  a  glittering  procession  of  white 
bergs.  The  wisdom  of  keeping  on  the  north  side  of  the 
strait  was  apparent  from  this  ;  though  it  seemed  likely 
to  cost  us  dear  in  the  consequent  loss  of  the  wind.  On 
man}*  of  the  larger  cakes  we  could  see  dark  objects, 
which  the  glass  disci  sed  to  be  seals,  sunning. 


38  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

Presently  a  dense  mass  of  blue-black  clouds  loomed 
suddenly  over  the  brow  of  the  cliffs. 

"  A  shower !  "  cried  Raed. 

"  A  squall !  "  exclaimd  old  Trull. 

"  All  hands  take  in  sail !  "  shouted  the  captain. 
x  Our  Gloucester  lads  needed  no  further  awakening. 
We  all  bore  a  hand,  and  had  the  mainsail  down  on  the 
boom,  short  order ;  and,  while  Wade  and  I  tried  ouf 
hand  at  lashing  it  with  the  gaskets,  the  rest  got  down 
the  foresail  and  the  topsail.  The  jib  was  not  furled, 
but  got  ready  to  "  let  go  "  in  case  of  fierce  gusts.  Low, 
heavy  peals  of  thunder  began  to  rumble  behind  the 
cliffs.  The  dark  cloud-mass  heaved  up,  till  a  misty  line 
of  foamy,  driving  rain  and  hail  showed  over  the  flinty 
crags.  Bright  flashes  gleamed  out,  followed  shortly  by 
heavy,  hollow  peals.  The  naked  ledges  added  vastly,  no 
doubt,  to  the  tone  of  the  reverberations.  The  rain-drift 
broke  over  the  cliffs ;  but  the  shower  passed  mainly  to 
the  north-west.  Only  some  scattered  drops,  with  a  few 
big  straggling  pellets  of  hail,  hit  on  the  deck.  An  eddy 
of  cool  air  followed  the  gust.  The  jib  puffed  out  on  a 
sudden. 

"  Up  with  the  foresail !  "  was  the  order. 

It  was  at  once  set ;  and  "  The  Curlew  "  started  on  in  the 
wake  of  the  shower.  The  cloud  passed  across  the  straits 
diagonally  to  the  south-west.  We  could  see  it  raining 
heavily  on  the  ice-flecked  water  a  few  miles  farther  up ; 
and  immediately  the  whole  surface  began  to  steam.  We 
watched  it  with  considerable  anxiety. 

"  It  will  be  a  fog,  I'm  afraid,"  groaned  Raed. 

"  It's  sure  to  be,"  said  young  Hobbs.     "  I  never  seed 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  3$ 

a  ecud  on  the  '  Banks '  but  'ut  it  was  allus  follered  by  a 
fog." 

White-gray,  cold-looking  clouds  began  to  drift  along 
the  sun  from  the  seaward.  A  sudden  change  in  the  air 
was  felt.  Cool,  damp  gusts  swept  down  from  the  crags. 
The  thermometer  was  falling  rapidly.  It  had  stood  at 
ninety-four  degrees  just-previous  to  the  shower.  Kit  now 
reported  it  at  seventy-three  degrees  ;  and,  in  less  than  an 
hour,  it  had  fallen  twenty  degrees  more.  This  sudden 
change  \\  as  probably  due  to  the  veering  of  the  wind  from 
east  round  to  north.  The  cold  blasts  from  "  Greenland's 
icy  mount  ains  "  speedily  dissipated  our  miniature  summer. 
There  wa^  a  general  rush  for  great-coats  and  thick  jack- 
ets. Thin  lines  of  vapor  streamed  up  from  the  water  as 
the  cold  gusts  swept  across  it.  The  hot  sun-beams  fall- 
ing on  the  sea  had  doubtless  raise  i  the  temperature  con- 
siderably, despite  the  ice  ;  and  this  sudden  change  in  the 
air  could  but  raise  a  great  mist.  Yet  I  doubt  whether 
Nature's  wonderful  and  legitimate  processes  were  ever 
regarded  with  greater  disfavor  and  apprehension. 

"The  barometer's  falling  a  good  deal  too,"  remarked 
the  captain,  coming  hastily  up  the  companion-stairs. 
"  Either  a  rain-storm,  or  a  smart  gale  from  the  north'ard : 
both,  perhaps.  We're  in  a  tight  place." 

"  What's  to  be  done  ?  "  Eaed  asked. 

"  Hadn't  we  better  try  to  beat  out  of  tnc  straits  into 
the  open  sea  again,  clear  of  the  land  and  ice  ?  "  said 
Kit. 

"  Can't  do  it.  It  would  take  all  night  to  do  that,  if 
there  were  no  ice  to  hinder.  The  gale  will  come  before 
morning,  if  it  comes  at  all ;  and  the  entrance  of  the 


40  LEFT-  ON  LABRADOR. 

Btraits  would  be  the  worst  possible  place  to  weathef 
it." 

"  But,  captain,  what  can  we  do  ?  "  Wade  demanded, 
'.ooking  a  little  pale. 

"  Well,  not  much.  We  must  keep  on,  —  get  as  far 
up  the  straits  as  we  can ;  and  then  trust  to  good  luck  to 
escape  being  smashed  or  jammed.  The  farther  we  get 
up  the  channel,  the  less  we  shall  feel  the  violence  of  a 
gale  from  the  seaward. 

It  was  a  rather  gloomy  prospect.  The  sky  was  thick- 
ening, and  darkened  rapidly.  The  mist  kept  streaming 
up  from  the  water.  What  wind  there  was  continued 
fitfully.  We  kept  the  foresail  and  the  jib  set,  and  jogged 
on,  doubling  amid  the  ice.  Meanwhile  the  fog  grew  so 
dense,  that  every  thing  was  very  dim  at  fifty  yards.  But 
for  the  mist,  and  the  danger  of  striking  against  large 
fragments  of  ice,  we  should  have  set  the  mainsail  and 
the  topsail  to  make  the  most  of  our  wind  ere  it  blew  too 
hard ;  for  it  was  plainly  rising.  Now  and  then  a  gust 
would  sigh  past  the  sheets.  Supper  was  eaten  in  squads 
of  two  and  three.  The  thermometer  fell  constantly.  It 
grew  so  chilly,  that  we  were  glad  to  slip  down  into  the 
galley  occasionally  to  warm  our  fingers  at  Palrnleafs 
stove.  Guard  had  already  taken  up  his  quarters  there. 

"  Dig  am  berry  suddin  change,"  the  darky  would  re- 
mark grively  to  each  of  us  as  we  successively  made  our 
appearance.  "Berry  suddin.  The  gerometurn  fallin' 
fast.  Srink  'im  all  up,  ser  cold.  Now,  dis  forenoon  it  am 
quite  comf 'ble  j  warm  'nu  f  ter  take  a  nap  in  the  sun : 
but  now  —  oo-oo-ooo !  awful  cold !  "  And  Palmleaf  would 
move  his  sable  cheek  up  close  to  the  hot  stove-pipe, 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  41 

Guard  all  the  time  regarding  him  soberly  from  the  othei 
side. 

Bidding  the  negro  keep  coffee  hot  and  ready  for  us, 
we  would  hurry  on  deck  again,  and  resume  our  places  in 
the  bow  ;  for  it  required  vigilant  eyes  to  look  out  for  all 
the  ugly  ice-cakes  among  which  the  schooner  was  driv- 
ing. The  weather  grew  thicker,  and  the  sky  darker.  By 
half-past  ten,  P.M.,  although  the  sun  must  have  been 
still  high  above  the  horizon,  it  was  dark  as  one  often 
sees  it  on  a  stormy  night  when  there  is  a  moon  in  the 
heavens.  In  fact,  it  grew  too  dark  to  make  out  the  ice- 
patches  ;  for,  despite  our  watchfulness,  at  about  five 
minutes  to  eleven  we  struck  against  a  large  mass  with  a 
shock  which  made  things  rattle  down  stairs.  Guard 
barked,  and  Palmleaf  showed  a  very  scared  face  in  the 
companion-way. 

"  Where  are  your  eyes  there,  forward  ?  "  shouted  the 
captain.  "  Couldn't  you  see  that  ?  " 

Just  then  we  grazed  pretty  heavily  against  another 
cake. 

"  It  is  really  getting  too  dark  for  us,  captain,"  said 
Kaed. 

"  Take  in  the  foresail,  then." 

The  sail  was  at  once  furled.  The  jib  was  kept  on, 
however,  to  hold  us  steady.  We  were  riow  merely 
breasting  the  current,  and  driving  on  a  little  with  the 
gusts.  Soon  it  began  to  rain,  —  rain  and  snow  together. 
The  dreariness  and  uncertainty  of  our  situation  can 
hardly  be  imagined.  We  did  not  even  know  how  near 
we  were  to  the  foot  of  the  cliffs,  and  could  merely  keep 
tLc  schooner  headed  as  she  had  been  during  the  after- 
uoon. 


42  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  The  main  thing  for  us  now  is  to  keep  her  as  nearly 
stationary  as  we  can,"  said  the  captain.  "  Between  wind 
and  water,  I  hope  not  to  move  half  a  knot  all  night." 

It  was  now  nearly  twelve. 

"We  may  as  well  go  helow,"  said  Kit.  "No  use 
standing  here  in  the  rain  when  we  can  do  no  good." 

We  had  been  up  nearly  twenty-one  hours  since  out 
last  nap.  Sleep  will  have  its  tribute  even  in  the  face 
of  danger.  Hastily  flinging  off  our  wet  coats,  we  lay 
down.  The  wind  and  rain  wailed  among  the  rigging 
above.  Chuck-chock,  chock-chuck,  went  the  waves 
under  the  stern ;  while  every  few  minutes  a  heavy  jar- 
ring bump,  followed  by  a  long  raspy  grind  along  the 
side,  told  of  the  icy  processions  floating  past.  Those 
were  our  lullabies  that  night.  Truly  it  required  a  sharp 
summoning  of  our  fortitude  not  to  feel  a  little  home- 
sick. But  we  went  to  sleep ;  at  least  I  did,  and  slept  a 
number  of  hours. 

Voices  roused  me.  The  captain  was  standing  beside 
our  mattresses. 

"  Wake  up ! "  he  was  saying.  "  Get  up,  and  come  on 
deck ! " 

At  the  same  moment  I  heard,  indistinctly,  a  strange, 
rumbling  sound. 

"What  is  it?  what's  the  matter ?"  cried  Kit,  start- 
ing up. 

"  Oh  !  don't  be  scared  ;  we've  been  hearing  it  for  some 
time,"  replied  the  captain,  "Put  on  your  rubber 
coats." 

We  did  so,  and  followed  him  up  the  stairway.  The 
rain  and  snow  still  came  fast  and  thick.  The  deck  was 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  43 

soppy.  Hobbs  was  at  the  wheel.  Donovan  and  Wey- 
mouth  were  forward.  I  could  just  make  them  out, 
standing  wrapped  up  against  the  bulwarks. 

"  Now  hark ! "  said  the  captain. 

We  all  listened.  A  heavy  noise,  like  that  of  some 
huge  flouring-mill  in  full  operation,  could  be  plainly 
heard  above  the  swash  of  the  waves  and  the  drive  and 
patter  of  the  storm. 

'•'  Thunder  ?  —  no;  it  isn't  thunder,"  muttered  Raed. 

"Breakers!"  exclaimed  Kit.  "It's  the  sea  on  the 
rocks,  —  those  cliffs,  —  isn't  it  ?  " 

"  Trull,"  said  the  captain  to  that  old  worthy,  who  was 
just  poking  his  head  up  out  of  the  forecastle,  —  "  Trull, 
is  that  noise  the  surf?" 

The  veteran  turn  an  experienced  ear  aport,  listened  a 
moment,  and  then  replied,  — 

"No,  sir,"  promptly. 

"  Well,  what  in  the  world  is  it,  then  ?  " 

The  old  salt  listened  again  attentively.  The  steady 
rumble  continued  without  intermission. 

"Don't  know,  sir,"  replied  Trull,  shaking  his  head. 
"  Never  heard  any  thing  like  it." 

"  Are  you  sure  it's  not  breakers  ?  "  demanded  Kit.  "  I'm 
afraid  we're  drifting  on  the  rocks.  It's  dead  ahead  too !  " 

But  neither  the  captain  nor  Trull  nor  Donovan  could 
believe  it  was  the  surf. 

"  We  began  to  hear  it  over  an  hour  ago,"  remarked 
the  captain.  "It  sounded  low  then;  we  could  just  hear 
it :  but  it  grows  louder.  It's  either  coming  towards  us, 
or  else  we  are  going  towards  it.  I  presume  the  storm 
drives  us  with  it  considerably." 


44  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  I  tell  you  that  it  is  some  dangerous  reef!  "  exclaimed 
Kit ;  "  some  hole  or  cavern  which  the  water  is  playing 
through." 

"  It  may  he,"  muttered  the  captain.  "  Starboard  the 
helm,  Hobbs ! " 

At  this  instant  a  heavy,  near  explosion  boomed  out, 
followed  momentarily  by  another  and  another. 

"  Good  heavens ! "  exclaimed  Raed. 

"  Cannon ! "  shouted  Wade :  "  it's  a  vessel  in  distress !  " 

"  Impossible ! "  cried  the  captain.  "  No  ship  would 
fire  cannon  here,  even  if  wrecked.  There  wouldn't  be 
one  chance  in  ten  thousand  of  its  being  heard  by  ?Mioth- 
er  vessel." 

Boom  ! 

"  Hark !  did  you  not  hear  that  splashing  noise  v-hat 
followed  the  explosion  ?  "  demanded  Kit. 

We  had  all  heard  it ;  for,  by  this  time,  the  sailors  who 
were  below  had  come  on  deck.  The  heavy  rumblipcf 
noise  began  afresh,  and  sounded  louder  than  before.  W« 
were  completely  mystified,  and  stood  peering  off  frou* 
the  bulwarks  into  the  stormy  obscurity  of  the  night. 

"  Are  there  volcanoes  on  these  straits,  suppose  ? '" 
Wade  asked. 

No  one  had  ever  heard  of  any. 

"  There  were   none    in   my  geography,"  said  Raed 
"  But  there  may  be  one  forming." 

Indeed,  we  were  so  much  in  doubt,  that  even  this  im 
probable  suggestion  was  caught  at  for  the  moment. 

"But  where's  the  fire  and  smoke?"  replied  Kit. 
"Methinks  it  ought  to  be  visible." 

We  could  feel,  rather  than  see,  that  the  schooner  was 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  45 

veering  slowly  to  the  left  in  obedience  to  her  helm,  —  a 
fact  which  left  no  doubt  that  we  were,  as  the  captain  had 
surmised,  drifting  with  the  storm  against  the  current ;  or 
perhaps,  before  this,  the  tide  coming  in  had  made  a 
counter-current  up  the  straits.  The  roaring  noise  was 
growing  more  distinct  every  minute ;  till  all  at  once  Bon- 
ney,  who  was  looking  attentively  out  from  the  bow,  ex- 
claimed, — 

"What's  that  ahead,  captain?  Isn't  there  some- 
thing?" 

We  all  strained  our  eyes. 

Dim  amid  the  fog  and  rain  something  which  seemed 
like  a  great  pale  shadow  loomed  before  the  schooner. 
For  a  moment  we  gazed,  uncertain  whether  it  were  real, 
or  an  illusion  of  darkness ;  then  Donovan  shouted,  — 

"  Ice !  —  it's  an  iceberg ! " 

"  Hard  a-starboard ! "  yelled  Capt.  Hazard. 

It  was  not  a  hundred  feet  distant.  Old  Trull  and 
Bonney  caught  up  the  pike-poles  to  fend  oif  with.  "The 
Curlew  "  drove  on.  The  vast  shadowy  shape  seemed  to 
approach.  A  chill  came  with  it.  A  few  seconds  more, 
and  the  bowsprit  punched  heavily  against  the  ice-moun- 
tain. The  shock  sent  the  schooner  staggering  back 
like  a  pugilist  with  a  "  blimmer  "  between  the  eyes.  Had 
we  been  sailing  at  our  usual  rate,  it  would  have  stove  in 
the  whole  bow.  The  storm  immediately  forced  us  for- 
ward again;  and  the  bowsprit,  again  striking,  slid  along 
the  ice  with  a  dull,  crunching  sound  as  the  schooner  fell 
oif  sidewise. 

"  Stand  by  those  pike-poles  ! "  shouted  the  captain  ; 
for  so  near  was  the  iceberg,  that  we  could  ea&ily  reach  it 
with  a  ten-foot  pole  from  the  bulwarks. 


46  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Striking  the  iron  spikes  into  the  ice,  the  men  held  the 
schooner  off  while  she  drifted  past.  The  rumbling 
noise,  louder  than  before,  seemed  now  to  come  from  out 
the  solid  berg. 

"  Let's  get  away  from  this  before  it  splits  or  explodes 
again ! "  exclaimed  Raed. 

"Heavens!  it  sounds  like  a  big  grist-mill  in  full 
blast  1 "  said  Kit. 

"More  like  a  powder-mill,  I  should  judge  from  the 
blasts  we  heard  a  few  minutes  ago,"  remarked  Wade. 

More  poles  were  brought  up,  and  we  all  lent  a  hand  to 
push  off  from  our  dangerous  neighbor.  After  fending 
along  its  massy  side  for  several  hundred  yards,  we  got 
off  clear  from  an  angle. 

"  Farewell,  old  thunder-mill ! "  laughed  Kit. 

But  we  had  not  got  clear  of  it  so  easily :  for  the  vast 
lofty  mass  so  broke  off  the  wind  and  storm,  that,  imme- 
diately on  passing  it  to  the  leeward,  we  hadn't  a  "  breath 
of  air ; "  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  berg  soon  drifted  down 
upon  us.  Again  we  pushed  off  from  it,  and  set  the  fore- 
sail. The  sail  merely  flapped  occasionally,  and  hung 
idly;  and  again  the  iceberg  came  grinding  against  us. 
There  were  no  means  of  getting  off  save  to  let  down  the 
boat,  and  tow  the  schooner  out  into  the  wind,  —  rather  a 
ticklish  job  among  ice,  and  in  so  dim  a  light.  "  The 
Curlew "  lay  broadside  against  the  berg,  but  did  not 
seem  to  chafe  or  batter  much :  on  the  contrary,  we 
were  borne  along  by  the  ice  with  far  less  motion  than  if 
out  in  open  water. 

"  Well,  why  not  let  her  go  so  ?  "  said  Kit  after  we 
had  lain  thus  a  few  minutes.  "  There  doesn't  seem  to 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR  4? 

be  any  great  danger  in  it.  This  side  of  the  iceberg,  so 
far  as  I  can  make  it  out,  doesn't  look  very  dangerous." 

"Not  a  very  seamanlike  way  of  doing  business,"  re- 
marked the  captain,  looking  dubiously  around. 

"  Catching  a  ride  on  an  iceberg,"  laughed  Weymouth. 
"  That  sort  of  thing  used  to  be  strictly  forbidden  at 
fechool." 

"  But  only  listen  to  that  fearful  rumble  and  roar ! " 
said  Eaed.  "  It  seems  to  come  from  deep  down  in  the 
berg.  What  is  it?" 

"  Must  be  the  sea  rushing  through  some  crack,  or  pos- 
sibly the  rain-water  and  the  water  from  the  melted  ice 
on  top  streaming  down  through  some  hole  into  the  sea," 
said  the  captain. 

"  But  those  explosions  ! — how  would  you  account  for 
those  ?  "  asked  Wade. 

"Well,  I  can't  pretend  to  explain  that.  I  have  an 
idea,  however,  that  they  resulted  from  the  splitting  off 
of  large  fragments  of  ice." 

On  the  whole,  it  was  deemed  most  prudent  to  let  the 
schooner  lay  where  she  was,  —  till  daylight  at  least. 
Planks  were  got  up  from  below,  and  thrust  down  between 
the  side  and  the  ice  to  keep  her  from  chafing  against  the 
sharp  angles. 

By  this  time  it  was  near  six  o'clock,  morning,  and 
hal  begun  to  grow  tolerably  light.  The  rain  still  con- 
tinued, however,  as  did  also  the  bellowings  inside  the 
iceberg.  Old  Trull  and  Weymouth  were  set  to  watch 
the  ice,  and  the  rest  of  us  went  down  to  breakfast.  The 
schooner  lay  so  still,  that  it  seemed  like  being  on  shore 
again.  We  had  got  as  far  as  our  second  cup  of  coffee, 


48  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

I  recollect,  when  we  were  startled  by  another  of  the 
same  heavy  explosions  we  had  heard  a  few  hours  previ- 
ous. It  was  followed  instantly  by  a  second.  Then  we 
heard  old  Trull  sing  out,  — 

"  Avast  from  under !  " 

And,  a  moment  later,  there  was  a  tremendous  crash  on 
deck,  accompanied  by  a  hollow,  rattling  sound.  Drop- 
ping our  knives  and  forks,  we  sprang  up  the  companion- 
way. 

"What  was  that,  Trull?"  demanded  Capt.  Hazard. 

"  A  chunk  of  ice,  sir,  as  big  as  my  old  sea-chest ! " 

"  How  came  that  aboard  ?  " 

"Rained  down,  sir.  Went  up  frum  the  top  o'  the 
barg,  sir,  at  that  thunder-clap,  and  came  plumb  down  on 
deck." 

The  deck-planks  were  shattered  and  split  where  it  had 
struck,  and  pieces  of  ice  the  size  of  a  quart  measure  lay 
all  about. 

"  Did  you  see  it  fly  up  from  the  top  of  the  berg,  Wey- 
mouth  ?  "  Raed  asked. 

"  Yes,  sir.  It  didn't  go  up  till  the  second  pop.  I  was 
looking  then.  It  went  up  like  as  if  it  had  been  shot  from 
a  gun ;  went  up  thirty  or  forty  feet,  then  turned  in  the 
air,  and  came  down  on  us.  Thought  'twould  sink  us,  sir, 
sure.  There  were  streams  of  water  in  the  air  at  the 
same  time ;  and  water  by  the  hogshead  came  sloshing 
over  the  side  of  the  ice." 

"  I  don't  understand  that  at  all,"  said  the  captain. 

"We  must  investigate  it,"  said  Kaed,  "if  we  can. 
But  let's  make  sure  of  our  breakfast  first.  I  suppose 
there  will  be  no  great  danger  in  letting  down  the  boat 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  49 

as  soon  as  it  gets  fairly  light,  will  there,  captain?  This 
iceberg  seems  to  he  a  rather  mysterious  chap.  I  propose 
that  we  circumnavigate  it  in  the  boat.  Perhaps  we  may 
find  a  chance  to  climb  on  to  it." 

It  was  already  light ;  and,  by  the  time  breakfast  was 
over,  the  rain  had  subsided  to  a  drizzly  mist :  but  the 
fog  was  still  too  thick  to  see  far  in  anjr  direction.  The 
sea  continued  comparatively  calm.  A  few  minutes  after 
seven,  the  boat  was  lowered.  Raed  and  the  rest  of  us 
boys,  with  the  captain  and  Weymouth,  got  in,  and  pulled 
round  to  the  windward  of  the  berg.  It  was  a  vast,  ma- 
jestic mass,  rising  from  forty  to  fifty  feet  above  the 
water,  and  covering  three  or  four  acres.  On  the  south, 
south-east,  and  east  sides  it  rose  almost  perpendicularly 
from  the  sea.  Ko  chance  to  scale  it  here ;  and,  even  if 
there  had  been,  the  water  was  much  too  rough  to  the 
windward  to  bring  the  boat  up  to  it.  We  continued 
around  it,  however,  and,  near  the  north-west  corner,  espied 
a  large  crevice  leading  up  toward  the  top,  and  filled  with 
broken  ice. 

"  Might  clamber  up  there,"  suggested  the  captain. 

It  looked  a  little  pokerish. 

"Let's  try  it,"  said  Kit. 

The  boat  was  brought  up  within  a  yard  or  so  of  the 
ice.  Watching  his  chance,  Capt.  Hazard  leaped  into 
the  crack. 

"  Jump,  and  I'll  catch  you  if  you  miss,"  said  he. 

Tlaed  jumped,  and  got  on  all  right ;  but  Kit  slipped. 
The  captain  caught  him  by  the  arm,  and  pulled  him  up, 
with  no  greater  damage  than  a  couple  of  wet  trousers- 
legs.     Wade  and  I  followed  dry-shod. 
4 


50  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Shore  off  a  few  yards,  Wey mouth,  and  be  really  in 
case  we  slip  down,"  directed  the  captain. 

But  we  had  no  difficulty  in  climbing  up. 

The  top  of  the  berg  was  irregular  and  rough,  with 
pinnacles  and  "knolls,"  between  which  were  many  deep 
puddles  of  water,  —  fresh  water :  we  drank  from  one. 
For  some  time  we  saw  nothing  which  tended  to  explain 
the  explosions ;  though  the  dull,  roaring  noise  still  con- 
tinued, seeming  directly  under  our  feet:  but  on  crossing 
over  to  the  south-west  side,  beneath  which  the  schooner 
lay,  Wade  discovered  a  large,  jagged  hole  something 
like  a  well.  It  was  five  or  six  feet  across,  and  situated 
twenty  or  twenty-five  yards  from  the  side  of  the  berg. 
Standing  around  this  "  well,"  the  rumbling  noises  were 
more  distinct  than  we  had  yet  heard  them,  and  were 
accompanied  by  a  great  plashing,  and  also  by  a  hissing 
sound,  as  of  escaping  air  or  steam ;  and,  on  peering  cau- 
tiously down  into  the  hole,  we  could  discern  the  water  in 
motion.  The  iceberg  heaved  slightly  with  the  swell : 
the  gurgling  and  hissing  appeared  to  follow  the  heaving 
motion. 

"  I  think  there  must  be  great  cavities  down  in  the  ice, 
which  serve  as  chambers  for  compressed  air,"  remarked 
Raed;  "and  somehow  the  heaving  of  the  berg  acts  as  an 
air-pump,  —  something  like  an  hydraulic  ram,  you  know." 

As  none  of  us  could  suggest  any  better  explanation, 
we  accepted  this  theory,  though  it  was  not  very  clear. 

AVe  were  going  back  toward  the  crevice,  when  a  loud 
gurgling  roar,  followed  by  a  report  like  the  discharge  of 
a  twenty-four-pounder,  made  the  berg  tremble;  and, 
turning,  we  saw  the  water  streaming  from  the  well 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  51 

Another  gurgle  and  another  report  succeeded,  almost  in 
the  same  instant.  Jets  of  water,  and  bits  of  ice,  were 
spouted  high  into  the  air,  and  came  down  splashing  and 
glancing  about.  We  made  off  as  expeditiously  as  we 
could.  Fortunately  none  of  the  pieces  of  ice  struck  us; 
though  Wade  and  Eaed,  who  were  a  little  behind,  were 
well  bespatterd.  We  hurried  down  to  the  boat,  greatly 
to  the  relief  of  Weymouth,  who  expected  we  had  "  got 
blown  up." 

[Raed  begs  me  to  add  that  he  hopes  the  reader  will  be 
able  to  suggest  a  better  explanation  of  this  singular  phe- 
nomenon than  the  one  that  has  occurred  to  him.] 

Jumping  to  the  boat,  we  pulled  round  to  "The  Cur- 
lew." The  sailors  were  watching  for  us,  with  a  touch 
of  anxiety  on  their  rough,  honest  faces. 

"  Throw  us  a  line ! "  shouted  Capt.  Hazard ;  "  and  bear 
a  hand  at  those  pike-poles  to  shove  her  off.  We'll  get 
clear  of  this  iceberg  as  quick  as  we  can.  Something  the 
matter  with  its  insides :  liable  to  bust,  I'm  afraid." 

Catching  the  line,  we  bent  to  the  oars,  and,  with  the 
help  of  the  men  with  the  poles,  tugged  the  schooner  off, 
and  gradually  towed  her  to  a  distance  of  three  or  four 
hundred  yards  from  fie  berg.  The  boat  was  then  taken 
in,  sail  made,  and  we  were  again  lumping  on  up  the 
straits. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


The  Fog  lifts.—  A  Whale  in  Sight.  —  Craggy  Black  Mountains  capped 
with  Snow.  —  A  Novel  Carriage  for  the  Big  Rifle.  —  Mounting  the 
Howitzer.  —  A  Doubtful  Shot.  —  The  Lower  Savage  Isles.  —  A  Deep 
Inlet.  —  "Mazard's  Bay,"  —  A  Desolate  Island.  —  An  Ice-Jam.—  '•  A 
Strange  Blood-red  Light.  —  Solution  of  the  Mystery.  —  Going  Ashore. 
—  Barren  Ledges.  —  Beds  of  Moss.  —  A  Bald  Peak.  —  An  Alarm.  — 
The  Schooner  in  Jeopardy.  —  The  Crash  and  Thunder  of  the  Ice.  — 
Tremendous  Tides. 


rain  had  now  pretty  much  ceased.  Some  sud- 
-  den  change  took  place  in  the  air's  density  ;  for  the 
fog,  which  had  all  along  lain  flat  on  the  sea,  now  rap- 
idly rose  up  like  a  curtain,  twenty,  thirty,  fifty  feet,  leav- 
ing all  clear  below.  We  looked  around  us.  The  dark 
water  was  besprinkled  with  white  patches,  among  which 
the  seals  were  leaping  and  frisking  about.  Half  a  mile 
to  the  left  we  espied  a  lazy  water-jet  playing  up  at  inter- 
vals. 

"  There  she  blows  !  "  laughed  Bonney.  "  Seems  like 
old  times,  I  declare  !  " 

"  What's  that,  sir  ?  "  asked  Capt.  Hazard,  who  had 
been  below  for  the  last  ten  minutes. 

"  A  sperm-whale  on  the  port  quarter,  sir  !  " 

Two  or  three  miles  ahead,  another  large  iceberg  waa 
driving  grandly  down.  We  could  also  see  our  late  con- 
sort a  mile  astern,  —  see  and  hear  it  too.  Higher  and 

52 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  53 

higher  rose  the  fog.  The  sky  brightened  through  tran- 
sient rifts  in  the  clouds.  Glad  enough  were  we  to  see  it 
clearing  up. 

Either  the  land  had  fallen  off  to  the  north ;  or  else,  in 
our  fear  of  running  on  the  cliffs,  we  had  declined  a  go^d 
deal  from  our  course.  The  northern  shore  was  now  three 
or  four  leagues  distant.  Fog  and  darkness  hung  over 
it.  The  bases  of  the  mountains  were  black ;  but  their 
tops  glistened  with  snow,  the  snow-line  showing  distinct 
two  or  three  hundred  feet  above  the  shore.  The  sails 
were  trimmed,  and  the  helm  put  round  to  bear  up 
nearer. 

"  What  a  country ! "  exclaimed  Raed,  sweeping  it  with 
his  glass.  "  Is  it  possible  that  people  live  there  ?  What 
can  be  the  inducements  ?  " 

"  Seals,  probably,"  said  Kit,  —  "  seals  and  whales. 
That's  the  Esquimaux  bill  of  fare,  I've  heard,  varied 
with  an  occasional  white  bear  or  a  sea-horse." 

"A  true  'Husky'  (Esquimau)  won't  eat  a  mouthful 
of  cooked  victuals,"  said  Capt.  Hazard ;  "  takes  every 
thing  raw." 

"  Should  think  so  much  raw  meat  would  make  them 
fierce  and  savage,"  remarked  Wade  :  "  makes  dogs  sav- 
age to  give  them  raw  meat." 

"  But  the  Esquimaux  are  a  rather  good-natured  set, 
I've  heard,"  replied  Kit. 

"  Not  always,"  said  the  captain.  "  The  whalers  have 
trouble  with  them  very  often  J  though  these  whalemen 
are  doubtless  any  thing  but  angels,"  he  added.  "  In 
dealing  with  them,  it  is  well  to  have  a  good  show  of 
muskets,  or  a  big  srun  or  two.  showing  its  muzzle :  makes 


64  LEW  ON  LABRADOR. 

'em  more  civil.  Cases  have  been  where  they've  boarded 
a  scantily-manned  vessel ;  to  get  the  plunder,  you  see. 
Hungry  for  any  thing  of  the  axe  or  iron  kind." 

"  It  would  not  be  a  bad  plan  to  get  up  our  howitzer, 
and  rig  a  carriage  for  it,"  said  Wade.  "  Let's  do  it." 

"  And  Wash's  cannon-rifle,"  said  Kit.  "  We  ought 
to  get  that  up.  I  think  it's  about  time  to  test  that 
ratlier  remarkable  arm." 

"  The  problem  with  me  is  how  to  mount  it,"  said  I. 

"  I  was  thinking  of  that  the  other  day,"  remarked  the 
captain.  "  I've  got  a  big  chest  below,  —  an  old  thing  I 
don't  use  now  :  we  might  make  the  gun  fast  to  the  top 
of  it ;  then  put  some  trucks  on  the  bottom  just  high 
enough  to  point  it  out  over  the  bulwarks.  Here,  Hobbs : 
come  below,  and  help  me  fetch  it  on  deck." 

While  they  were  getting  up  the  chest,  Eaed  and  1 
brought  up  the  cannon-rifle.  It  was  about  as  much  as 
we  could  get  up  the  stairs  with  easily.  It  was,  as  the 
reader  will  probably  remember,  set  in  a  light  framework 
of  wrought-iron,  adjusted  to  a  swivel,  and  arranged  with 
A  screw  for  raising  or  lowering  the  breech  at  will.  The 
bed-pieces  of  the  framework  had  been  pierced  for  screws. 
It  was,  therefore,  but  a  few  minutes'  work  to  bore  holes 
in  the  top  of  the  chest  and  drive  the  screws.  Mean- 
while the  captain,  who  enjoyed  the  scheme  as  well  as  any 
of  us,  split  open  a  couple  of  old  tackle-blocks,  and,  get- 
ting out  the  trucks,  proceeded  to  set  them  on  the  ends  of 
two  stout  axles  cut  from  an  old  ice-pole.  These  axles 
were  then  nailed  fast  to  the  bottom  of  the  chest.  The 
gun-carriage  was  then  complete,  and  could  be  rolled  any- 
where on  deck  \\ith  ease. 


LEFT  UN  LABRADOR.  55 

"  Decidedly  neat !  "  exclaimed  Capt.  Mazard,  survey- 
ing it  with  a  grin  of  self-approbation. 

"  What  say  to  that,  Trull  ?  "  cried  Eaed. 

The  old  man-of-war's-inan  had  been  watching  the 
progress  of  the  invention  with  an  occasional  tug  at 
his  waistband. 

"  Yes ;  how's  that  in  your  eye  ?  "  exclaimed  the  cap- 
tain. "  You're  a  military  character.  Give  us  an  opin- 
ion on  that." 

"  Wai,  sur,"  cocking  his  eye  at  it,  "  I'm  free  to  confass 
I  naver  saw  any  thing  like  it ; "  and  that  was  all  we 
could  get  out  of  him. 

"Bring  some  ammunition,  and  let's  give  it  a  trial," 
i*aid  Kit. 

I  brought  up  the  powder-flask,  caps,  and  a  couple  of 
bullets.  The  bullets  we  had  run  for  it  were  of  lead, 
about  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  weighed  not  far  from  six 
ounces  apiece.  The  breech  was  depressed.  B,aed  poured 
in  half  a  gill  of  the  fine  powder  by  measurement ;  a  wad 
of  paper  was  rammed  down ;  then  a  bullet  was  driven 
home.  There  only  remained  to  prime  and  cap  it. 

"  Fire  at  one  of  these  seals,"  suggested  Wade,  point- 
ing to  where  a  group  of  three  or  four  lay  basking  on  an 
ice-cake  at  a  distance  of  eight  or  ten  hundred  yards. 

"  Who'll  take  the  first  shot  ?  "  said  Kit. 

Nobody  seemed  inclined  to  seize  the  honor. 

"  Come,  now,  that  seal's  getting  impatient !  "  cried  the 
captain. 

Still  no  one  volunteered  to  shoot  off  the  big  rifle. 

"  I  think  Wash  had  better  fire  the  first  shot,"  re« 
marked  Raed.  "The  honor  clearly  belongs  to  him." 


56  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Seeing  they  were  a  little  disposed  to  rally  me  on  it,  J 
stepped  up  and  cocked  it.  At  that  everybody  hastily 
stood  back.  I  took  as  good  aim  as  the  motion  of  the 
schooner  would  permit ;  though  I  think  I  should  have 
done  better  had  not  Palmleaf  just  at  that  moment  sang 
out,  "  Dinner,  sar !."  from  behind.  I  pulled  the  trigger, 
however.  There  was  a  stunning  crack  ;  and  so  smart  a 
recoil,  that  I  was  pushed  half  round  sidewise  with 
amazing  spitefulness.  The  old  chest  rolled  back,  whirled 
round,  and  upset  against  the  bulwarks  on  the  other  side. 
The  reader  can  imagine  what  a  rattle  and  racket  it 
made. 

"  Golly  ! "  exclaimed  Palmleaf.     "  Am  crazy  ! " 

"  Did  it  hit  the  seal  ?  "  recovering  my  equilibrium. 

Wade  was  the  only  one  who  had  watched  the  seal. 

"  I  saw  him  flop  off  into  the  water,"  said  he. 

"  Then  of  course  it  hit  him,"  said  I. 

Nobody  disputed  it ;  though  I  detected  an  odious  winfe 
between  the  captain  and  Kit. 

The  prostrate  gun  was  got  up  on  its  legs  again  ;  old 
Trull  remarking  that  we  had  better  trig  it  behind  before 
we  fired,  in  future :  that  duty  attended  to,  he  thought  it 
might  work  very  well. 

We  then  went  to  dinner.  How  to  mount  the  howitzer 
was  the  next  question. 

"We  need  a  regular  four-wheeled  gun-carriage  foi 
that,'1  said  Raed. 

"I  think  we  can  make  one  out  of  those  planks,"  re- 
marked Kit. 

"  The  worst  trouble  will  come  with  the  wheels,"  said 
Wade. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR  57 

But  Capt.  Hazard  thought  he  could  saw  them  out  of 
tections  of  fifteen-inch  plank  with  the  wood-saw. 

"  I'll  undertake  that  for  my  part,"  he  added,  and,  aa 
soon  as  dinner  was  over,  went  about  it. 

"Now  we'll  gei  old  man  Trull  to  help  us  on  the  body" 
said  Kit. 

The  planks,  with  axe,  adze,  auger,  and  hammer,  were 
carried  on  deck.  Our  old  man-of-war's-man  readily  lent 
a  hand ;  and  with  his  advice,  particularly  in  regard  to 
the  cheeks  for  the  trunnions,  we  succeeded  during  the 
afternoon  in  getting  up  a  rough  imitation  of  the  old- 
fashioned  gun-carriage  in  use  on  our  wooden  war-ves- 
sels. The  captain  made  the  wheels  and  axles.  The 
body  was  then  spiked  to  them,  and  the  howitzer  lifted 
up  and  set  on  the  carriage.  By  way  of  testing  it,  we 
then  charged  the  piece  with  half  a  pint  of  powder,  and 
fired  it.  The  sharp,  brassy  report  was  reverberated 
from  the  dark  mountains  on  the  starboard  side  in  a 
wonderfully  distinct  echo.  Hundreds  of  seals  dropped 
off  the  ice-cakes  into  the  sea  all  about,  —  a  fact  I  ob- 
served with  some  mortification.  As  the  guns  would 
have  to  remain  on  deck,  exposed  to  fog  and  rain,  we 
stopped  the  muzzles  with  plugs,  and  covered  them  with 
two  of  our  rubber  blankets.  They  were  then  lashed  fast, 
and  left  for  time  of  need. 

During  the  day,  we  had  gradually  come  up  with  what 
we  at  first  had  taken  for  a  cape  or  a  promontory  from 
the  mainland,  but  which,  by  five  o'clock,  P.M.,  was  dis- 
covered to  be  a  group  of  mountainous  islands,  the  same 
known  on  the  chart  as  the  "  Lower  Savage  Isles."  '  The 
courev  was  changed  five  points,  to  pass  them  to  the 


58  LEFT   ON   LABKADOR. 

southward.  By  seven  o'clock  we  were  off  abreast  ore 
of  the  largest  of  them.  It  was  our  intention  to  stand 
on  this  course  during  the  night.  The  day  had  at  no 
time,  however,  been  exactly  fair.  Foggy  clouds  had 
hung  ahout  the  sun;  and  now  a  mist  beg^n  to  rise 
from  the  water,  much  as  it  had  done  the  previous  even- 
ing. 

"  If  I  thought  there  might  be  any  tolerable  safe  an- 
chorage among  those  islands,"  muttered  the  captain, 
with  his  glass  to  his  eye,  "  I  should  rather  beat  in  there 
than  take  the  risk  of  running  o»  to  another  iceberg  in 
the  fog." 

This  sentiment  was  unanimous. 

"There  seems  to  be  a  clear  channel  between  this  near- 
est island  and  the  next,"  remarked  Raed,  who  had  been 
looking  attentively  for  some  moments.  "  We  could  but 
bear  up  there,  and  see  what  it  looks  like." 

The  helm  was  set  a-port,  and  the  sails  swung  round 
to  take  the  wind,  which,  for  the  last  hour,  had  been  shift- 
ing to  the  south-east.  In  half  an  hour  we  were  up  in 
the  mouth  of  the  channel.  It  was  a  rather  narrow 
opening,  not  more  than  thirty-five  or  forty  rods  in  width, 
with  considerable  ice  floating  about.  We  were  in  some 
doubt  as  to  its  safety.  The  schooner  was  hove  to,  and 
the  lead  thrown. 

"  Forty-seven  fathom  ! " 

"  All  right !     Bring  her  round  !  " 

The  wind  was  light,  or  we  should  hardly  have  made 
into  an  unknown  passage  with  so  much  sail  on :  as  it 
was,  we  did  but  drift  lazily  in.  On  each  side,  the  islands 
presented  black,  bare,  flint}  crags,  distant  scarcely  a 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  59 

pistol  shot  from  the  deck.  A  quarter  of  :i  mile  in,  WP 
sounded  a  second  time,  and  had  forty-three  fathoms. 

"  Never  saw  a  deeper  gut  for  its  width ! "  exclaimed 
Capt.  Mazard.  "What  a  chasm  there  would  he  here 
were  the  sea  out  of  it !  " 

Half  a  mile  farther  up,  a  third  and  smaller  island  lay 
at  the  head  of  the  channel,  which  was  thus  divided  by 
it  into  two  narrow  arms,  — one  leading  out  to  the  north- 
east, the  other  to  the  north-west.  This  latter  arm  was 
clear  of  ice,  showing  a  dark  line  of  water  crooking  off 
among  numerous  small  islets ;  but  the  arm  opening  up 
to  the  north-east  was  jammed  with  ice.  "The  Curlew" 
went  in  leisurely  to  three  hundred  yards  of  the  foot  of 
the  island,  where  we  found  thirty-three  fathoms,  and 
hove  to  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  ledges  of  the 
island  on  the  east  side.  The  anchor  was  now  let  go,  and 
the  sails  furled. 

"  We're  snug  enough  here  from  any  thing  from  the 
north-east  or  north,"  remarked  Capt.  Hazard;  "and 
even  a  sou'-wester  would  hardly  affect  us  much  a  mile 
up  this  narrow  inlet." 

It  seemed  a  tolerably  secure  berth.  The  schooner  lay 
as  still  as  if  at  her  whajf  at  far-distant  Portland.  There 
was  no  perceptible  swell  in  the  channel.  Despite  the 
vast  mass  of  ice  "packed"  into  the  arm  above  us,  it 
was  not  disagreeably  chilly.  The  thermometer  stood  at 
fifty-nine  degrees  in  our  cabin.  Indeed,  were  it  not  for 
the  great  bodies  of  ice,  these  extreme  northern  sum- 
mers, where  the  sun  hardly  sets  for  months,  would  get 
insufferably  hot,  —  too  hot  to  be  endured  by  man. 

The   mist   steamed    silently  up,  up.      Gradtfally  the 


60  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

islands,  the  crags,  and  even  objects  at  the  schooner's 
length,  grew  indistinct,  and  dimmed  out  entirely  by  half- 
past  ten.  We  heard  the  "honk,  honk"  of  numerous 
wild-geese  from  the  islands;  and,  high  overhead,  the 
melancholy  screams  of  "  boatswains."  Otherwise  all 
was  quiet.  The  watch  was  arranged  among  the  sailors, 
and  we  went  to  bed.  For  the  last  sixty  hours  we  had 
had  not  over  seven  hours  of  sleep.  Now  was  a  good 
time  to  make  up.  Profound  breathing  soon  resounded 
along  the  whole  line  of  mattresses. 

We  had  been  asleep  two  or  three  hours,  when  a  shake 
aroused  me.  A  strange,  reddish  glare  filled  the  cabin. 
Donovan  was  standing  at  my  head. 

"  What's  up  ?  "  I  asked.  "  Fire  ?  It  isn't  fire,  is  it  ?  " 
jumping  up. 

"  No,  it's  not  fire,"  replied  Donovan. 

"Oh  !  morning,  then,"  I  said,  greatly  relieved. 

"  No  ;  can't  be.     It's  only  one  o'clock." 

"Then  what  is  it,  for  pity  sake?"  I  demanded  in 
fresh  wonder. 

"Don't  know,  sir.  Thought  I'd  just  speak  to  you. 
Perhaps  you'll  know  what  it  is.  Won't  you  go  up.  It's 
a  queer  sight  on  deck." 

"Of  course   I   will.     Go  ahead.     No   matter   about 

• 

waking  the  others  just  yet,  though." 

The  cold  mist  struck  in  my  face  on  emerging  from  the 
companion-way.  It  was  still  very  foggy  and  damp. 
Such  a  scene  !  The  sky  was  of  a  deep  rose-color.  The 
thick  fog  seemed  like  a  sea  of  magenta.  The  deck,  the 
bulwarks,  the  masts,  and  even  Donovan  standing  beside 
me,  looked  as  if  baptized  in  blood.  It  was  as  light  as, 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  61 

even  lighter  than,  when  we  had  gone  below.  Tne  cliffs 
on  the  island,  drear  and  black  by  daylight,  showed  like 
mountains  of  red  beef  through  the  crimson  fog. 

"  It  was  my  watch,"  said  Donovan.  "  I  was  all  alone 
here.  Thought  I  would  just  speak  to  you.  Come  on 
quite  sudden.  I  didn't  know  just  what  to  make  of  it." 

"  N"o  wonder  you  didn't." 

"  I  knew  it  couldn't  be  morning,"  he  went  on.  "  There 
must  be  a  great  fire  somewhere  round :  don't  you  think 
so,  sir  ?  " 

I  was  trying  to  think.  Queer  sensations  came  over 
me.  I  looked  at  my  watch.  It  was  four  minutes  past 
one.  Donovan  was  right :  it  couldn't  be  morning.  A 
sudden  thought  struck  me. 

"  It's  the  northern  lights,  Donovan  ! "  I  exclaimed. 

"So  red  as  this?" 

"  Yes :  it's  the  fog." 

"  Do  you  really  think  so  ?  "  with  a  relieved  breath. 

"There's  no  doubt  of  it." 

"  But  it  makes  a  funny  noise." 

"Noise?" 

"  Yes :  I  heard  it  several  times  before  I  called  you. 
Hark!  There!" 

A  soft  rushing  sound,  which  was  neither  the  wind  (for 
there  was  none),  nor  the  waves,  nor  the  touch  of  ice, 
could  be  heard  at  brief  intervals.  It  seemed  far  aloft. 
I  am  at  a  loss  how  to  describe  it  best.  It  was  not 
unlike  the  faint  rustle  of  silk,  and  still  more  like  the 
flapping  of  a  large  flag  in  a  moderate  gale  of  wind. 
Occasionally  there  would  be  a  soft  snap,  which  was  much 
like  the  snapping  of  a  flag.  I  take  the  more  pains  to 


62  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR 

etate  this  fact  explicitly,  because  I  am  aware  that  the 
statement  that  the  auroral  phenomena  are  accompanied 
by  audible  sounds  has  been  disputed  by  many  writers. 
I  have  only  to  add,  that,  if  they  could  not  have  heard  the 
"  rustlings  "  from  the  deck  of  "The  Curlew"  that  night, 
they  must  have  been  lamentably  deaf. 

The  light  wavered  visibly,  brightening  and  waning 
with  marvellous  swiftness. 

"Shall  we  call  the  other  young  gentlemen?"  Dono- 
van asked. 

"  Yes ;  but  don't  tell  them  what  it  is.  See  what  they 
will  think  of  it." 

In  a  few  moments  Kit  and  Wade  and  Raed  were 
coming  out  of  the  companion-way,  rubbing  their  eyes  in 
great  bewilderment.  They  were  followed  by  the  cap- 
tain. 

"  Heavens  !  '•'  he  exclaimed.     "  Is  the  ship  on  fire  ?  " 

"  Fire  ! "  cried  Wade  excitedly,  catching  at  the  last 
word  :  "  did  you  say  fire  ?  " 

"  No,  no ! "  exclaimed  Kit.  "  It's  nothing  —  nothing 
—  but  daybreak  !  " 

"It's  only  one  o'clock,"  said  Donovan,  willing  to  keep 
them  in  doubt. 

Capt.  Mazard  was  rushing  about,  looking  over  the  bul- 
warks. 

"  There's  no  fire,"  said  he,  "  unless  it's  up  in  the  sky. 
But,  by  Jove  !  if  you  aren't  a  red-looking  set !  — redder 
than  lobsters  ! " 

"Not  redder  than  yerself,  cap'n,"  laughed  Donovan, 
who  greatly  enjoyed  their  mystification. 

"The  sea  is  like  blood!"  exclaimed  Wade.     "You 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  63 

don't  suppose  the  day  of  judgment  has  come  and 
raught  as  away  up  here  in  Hudson's  Straits,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Not  quite  so  bad  as  that,  I  guess,"  said  Raed.  "  I 
have  it :  it's  the  aurora  borealis ;  nothing  worse,  nor 
more  dangerous." 

I  had  expected  Raed  would  come  to  it  as  soon  as  he 
had  got  his  eyes  open. 

"  A  red  aurora ! "  said  the  captain.  "  Is  that  the 
way  you  explain  it  ?  " 

"  Not  a  red  aurora  exactly,"  returned  Raed,  "  hut  an 
aurora  shining  down  through  the  thick  fog.  The 
aurora  itself  is  miles  above  the  fog,  up  in  the  sky  and 
probably  of  the  same  bright  yellow  as  usual ;  bu1  the 
dense  mist  gives  it  this  red  hue." 

"  I've  heard  that  the  northern  lights  were  caust  I  by 
electricity,"  said  Weyinouth.  "  Is  that  so  ?  " 

"It  is  thought  to  be  electricity  passing  through  the 
air  high  up  from  the  earth,"  replied  Raed.  "  That's 
what  the  scientific  men  tell  us." 

"They  can  tell  us  that,  and  we  shall  be  just  as  wise  as 
we  were  before,"  said  Kit.  "They  can't  tell  us  whet 
electricity  is." 

"Why!"  exclaimed  the  captain,  "I  thought  elec- 
tricity was  "  — 

"  Well,  what  ?  "  said  Kit,  laughing. 

"  Why,  the  —  the  stuff  they  telegraph  with,"  finished 
the  captain  a  little  confusedly. 

"  Well,  what's  that  ?  "  persisted  Kit. 

"What  is  it?"  repeated  the  captain  confidently. 
"  Why,  it  is  —  well  —  Hang  it !  I  don't  know ! '' 

We   all    burst    out    laughing :    the  captain   himself 


64  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

laughed, — his  case  was  so  very  nearly  like  everybody '? 
who  undertakes  to  talk  about  the  wondrous,  subtle 
element.  By  the  by,  his  definition  of  it  —  viz.,  that  it  ia 
"  the  stuff  we  telegraph  with  " — strikes  me  as  being  about 
the  best  one  I  ever  heard.  Kit  and  Raed,  however,  have 
got  a  theory,  —  which  they  expound  very  gravely,  — to 
the  effect  that  electricity  and  the  luminiferous  ether  — 
that  thin  medium  through  which  light  is  propagated 
from  the  sun,  and  which  pervades  all  matter — are  one 
and  the  same  thing ;  which,  of  course,  is  all  very  fine  as 
a  theory,  and  will  be  finer  when  they  can  give  the  proof 
of  it. 

After  watching  the  aurora  for  some  minutes  longer, 
during  which  it  kept  waxing  and  waning  with  alternate 
pale-crimson  and  blood-red  flushes,  we  .went  back  to  our 
bunks ;  whence  we  were  only  aroused  by  Palmleaf  call- 
ing us  to  breakfast. 

If  there  was  any  wind  that  morning  it  must  have  been 
from  the  east,  when  the  crags  of  the  island  under  which 
we  lay  would  have  interrupted  it.  Not  a  breath  reached 
the  deck  of  "  The  Curlew  ;  "  and  we  were  thus  obliged  to 
remain  at  our  anchorage,  which,  in  compliment  to  the 
captain,  and  after  the  custom  of  navigators,  we  named 
hazard's  Bay.  As  the  inlet  bore  no  name,  and  was  not 
even  indicated  on  the  charts  we  had  with  us,  we  felt  at 
liberty  to  thus  designate  it,  leaving  to  future  explorers 
the  privilege  of  rechristening  it  at  their  pleasure. 

11  We  shall  have  a  lazy  morning  of  it,"  Kit  remarked 
as  we  stood  loitering  about  the  deck. 

"  I  propose  that  we  let  down  the  boat,  and  go  ashore 
on  the  island,"  said  Wade.  "  'Twould  seem  good  to  set 
footou  something  firm  once  more." 


LEFT  ON   LABRADOR.  65 

"  Well,  those  ledges  look  firm  enougl ,"  replied  Raed. 
•f  See  here,  captain  :  here's  a  chap  begging  to  get  ashore. 
Is  it  safe  to  trust  him  off  the  ship  ?  " 

"  Hardly,"  laughed  Capt.  Mazard.  "  He  might  de- 
sert." 

"  Then  I  move  we  all  go  with  him,"  said  Kit.  "  Let's 
take  some  of  those  muskets  along  too.  May  get  a  shot 
at  those  wild-geese  we  heard  last  evening." 

The  boat  was  lowered.  We  boys  and  the  captain, 
with  Donovan  and  Hobbs  to  row  us,  got  over  the  rail, 
and  paddled  to  where  a  broad  jetting  ledge  formed  a 
natural  quay,  on  which  we  leaped.  The  rock  was  worn 
smooth  by  the  waves  of  centuries.  To  let  the  sailors 
go  ashore  with  us,  we  drew  up  the  boat  on  the  rock 
several  feet,  and  made  it  fast  with  a  line  knotted  into 
a  crevice  between  two  fragments  of  flinty  sienite  rock 
at  the  foot  of  the  crags.  We  then,  with  considerable 
difficulty  and  mutual  "  boosting,"  clambered  up  to  the 
top  of  the  cliffs,  thirty  or  forty  feet  above  the  boat,  and 
thence  made  our  way  up  to  the  summit  of  a  bald  peak 
half  a  mile  from  the  shore,  which  promised  a  good 
prospect  of  the  surrounding  islands.  It  is  hardly  pos- 
sible to  give  an  idea  of  the  desolate  aspect  of  these 
ledgy. islets.  There  was  absolutely  no  soil,  no  earth, 
on  them.  More  than  half  the  surface  was  bare  as  black 
sienite  could  be.  Huge  leathery  lichens  hung  to  the 
rocks  in  patches;  and  so  tough  were  they,  that  one 
might  pull  on  them  with  his  whole  strength  without 
tearing  them.  In  the  crevices  and  tiny  ravines  bet  ween 
the  ledges,  there  were  vast  beds  of  damp  moss.  In 
crossing  these  we  went  knee-deep,  and  once  waist-deep, 
5 


66  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

into  it.  The  only  plant  I  saw  was  a  trailing  shrnblet, 
sometimes  seen  on  high  mountains  in  New  England,  and 
known  to  botanists  as  Andromeda  of  the  heathworts. 
It  had  pretty  blue-purple  flowers,  and  was  growing 
quite  plentifully  in  sheltered  nooks.  Not  a  bird  nor  an 
air'mal  was  to  be  seen.  Half  an  hour's  climbing  took 
us  to  the  brown  weather-beaten  summit  of  the  peak. 
From  this  point  eleven  small  islands  were  in  sight,  none 
of  them  more  than  a  few  miles  in  extent;  and,  at  a  dis- 
tance of  seven  or  eight  leagues,  the  high  mountains  of 
the  northern  main,  their  tops  white  with  snow,  with  glit- 
tering glaciers  extending  down  the  valleys,  —  the  source 
of  icebergs.  There  was  a  strong  current  of  air  across 
the  crest  of  the  peak.  Sweeping  down  from  the  wintry 
mountains,  it  made  us  shiver.  The  sea  was  shimmering 
in  the  sun,  and  lay  in  silvery  threads  amid  the  brown 
isles.  Below  us,  and  almost^at  our  feet,  was  the  schooner, 
—  our  sole  connecting  link  with  the  world  of  men,  — 
her  cheery  pine-colored  deck  just  visible  over  the  shore 
clifi's.  Suddenly,  as  we  gazed,  she  swung  oft',  showing 
her  bow ;  and  we  saw  the  sailors  jumping  about  the 
windlass. 

"  What  does  that  mean  ? "  exclaimed  Capt.  Hazard. 
"  Possible  they've  got  such  a  breeze  as  that  down  there  ? 
Why,  it  doesn't  blow  enough  here  to  swing  the  vessel 
round  like  that ! " 

"  But  only  look  down  the  inlet ! "  said  Donovan. 
"  How  wild  it  seems !  See  those  lines  of  foam ! 
Hark ' " 

A  rushing  noise  as  of  some  great  river  foaming  among 
bowlders  began  to  be  heard. 


LEFT    ON  LABRADOR.  67 

"  It's  the  tide  coming  in ! "  shouted  the  captain,  start- 
ing to  run  down  the  rocks. 

The  schooner  had  swung  back  and  round  the  other 
way.  What  we  had  read  of  the  high  and  violent  tides 
in  these  straits  flashed  into  my  mind. 

The  captain  was  making  a  bee-line  for  the  vessel :  the 
rest  of  us  followed  as  fast  as  we  could  run.  "Just  what 
good  we  any  of  us  expected  to  be  able  to  do  was  not 
very  clear.  But "  The  Curlew  "  was  our  all :  we  couldn't 
see  it  endangered  without  rushing  to  the  rescue.  Pant- 
ing, we  arrived  on  the  ledges  overlooking  the  boat  and 
the  schooner.  The  tide  had  already  risen  ten  or  a  dozen 
feet.  The  boat  had  floated  up  from  the  rock,  and 
broken  loose  from  the  line.  We  could  see  it  tossing 
and  whirling  half  way  out  to  the  schooner.  The 
whole  inlet  boiled  like  a  pot,  and  roared  like  a  mill-race. 
Huge  eddies  as  large  as  a  ten-pail  kettle  came  whirling 
in  under  the  cliffs.  The  whole  bay  was  filling  up.  The 
waters  crept  rapidly  up  the  rocks.  But  our  eyes  were 
riveted  on  the  schooner.  She  rocked ;  she  wriggled  like 
a  weather-cock ;  then  swung  clean  round  her  anchor. 

"  If  it  will  only  hold  her ! "  groaned  Capt.  Hazard. 
"  But,  if  it  drags,  she'U  strike  ! " 

Old  Trull,  Wey mouth,  and  Bonney  were  at  the  wind- 
lass, easing  out  the  cable  as  the  vessel  rose  on  the  tide. 
Corliss  was  at  the  wheel,  tugging  and  turning,  —  to 
what  purpose  was  not  very  evident.  But  they  were  do- 
ing their  level  best  to  save  the  vessel :  that  was  plain. 
Capt.  Mazard  stood  with  clinched  hands  watching  them, 
every  muscle  and  nerve  tense  as  wire. 

I  was  hoping  the  most  dangerous  crisis  had  passed, 


68  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

when  a  tremendous  noise,  like  a  thunder-peal  low  down 
to  the  earth,  burst  from  the  ice-jammed  arm  of  the  inlet 
to  the  north-east.  We  turned  instantly  in  that  direction 
The  whole  pack  of  ice,  filling  the  arm  for  near  a  half- 
mile,  was  in  motion,  grating  and  grinding  together. 
From  where  we  stood,  the  noise  more  resembled  heavy, 
near  thunder  than  any  thing  else  I  can  compare  it  with. 

"It's  the  tide  bursting  round  from  the  north-east 
side  ! "  exclaimed  Kit. 

"  Took  it  a  little  longer  to  come  in  among  the  islands 
on  the  north  side,"  said  Eaed,  gazing  intently  at  the 
fearful  spectacle. 

The  noise  nearly  deafened  us.  The  whole  vast  ma?s 
of  ice  —  millions  of  tons  —  was  heaving  and  sliding, 
cake  over  cake.  It  had  lain  piled  fifteen  or  twenty  feet 
above  the  water ;  but  the  tide  surging  under  it  and 
through  it  caused  it  to  mix  and  churn  together.  We 
could  see  the  water  gushing  up  through  crevices,  some- 
times in  fountains  of  forty  or  fifty  feet,  hurling  up  large 
fragments  of  ice.  The  phenomenon  was  gigantic  in  all 
its  aspects.  To  us,  who  expected  every  moment  to  see 
it  borne  forward  and  crush  the  schooner,  it  was  appall- 
ing. But  the  sea  filling  in  on  the  south,  added  to  the 
narrowness  of  the  arm,  prevented  the  jam  from  rushing 
through ;  though  a  great  deal  of  ice  did  float  out,  and, 
caught  in  the  swirling  currents,  bumped  pretty  hard 
against  the  vessel's  sides.  The  schooner  swayed  about 
heavily ;  but  the  anchor  held  miraculously,  as  we  thought 
Once  we  fancied  it  had  given  way,  and  held  our  breath 
till  the  cable  tightened  sharply  again.  The  grating 
and  thundering  of  the  jam  gradually  dulled,  muffled  by 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  G9 

the  water.  Our  thoughts  reverted  to  our  own  situation. 
The  sea  had  risen  within  five  feet  of  the  place  where  we 
were  standing.  To  get  up  here  in  the  morning  we  had 
been  obliged  to  scale  a  precipice. 

"  It  must  have  risen  fully  thirty  feet,"  said  Kit. 
"What  a  mighty  tide!" 

"Why  should  it  rush  in -here  with  so  much  greater 
violence  than  it  does  down  on  the  coast  of  Massachusetts 
or  at  Long  Branch  ?  "  questioned  Wade.  "  How  do  you 
explain  it,  captain  ?  " 

"  It  is  because  the  coasts,  both  above  and  below  the 
mouth  of  the  straits,  converge  after  the  manner  of  a 
tunnel.  The  tidal  wave  from  the  Atlantic  is  thus 
accumulated,  and  pours  into  the  straits  with  much  more 
than  ordinary  violence.  The  same  thing  occurs  in  the 
Bay  of  Fundy,  where  they  have  very  high  tides.  But  I 
had  no  idea  of  such  violence,"  he  added,  "  or  I  shouldn't 
have  risked  the  schooner  so  near  the  rocks.  Why,  that 
inlet  ran  like  Niagara  rapids  !  " 

"  What  an  evidence  this  gives  one  of  the  strength  of 
the  moon's  attraction ! "  said  K  aed.  "  All  this  great  mass 
of  water  —  thirty  feet  high  —  is  drawn  in  here  by  the 
moon.  What  enormous  force  !  " 

"And  this  vast  power  is  exerted  over  a  distance  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  miles,"  remarked 
Kit. 

"  I  can't  understand  this  attraction  of  gravitation,  — 
how  it  is  exerted,"  said  Wade. 

"No  more  can  any  one,"  replied  Eaed. 

•'  It  is  said  that  this  attraction  of  the  moon,  or  at  least 
Mie  friction  of  the  tides  on  the  ocean-bed  which  it  causes, 


70  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

is  exerted  in  opposition  to  the  revolution  of  the  earth  on 
its  axis,  and  that  it  will  thus  at  some  future  time  stop  that 
motion  altogether,"  Kit  remarked.  "  That's  what  Prof. 
Tyndall  thinks." 

"  Then  there  would  be  an  end  of  day  and  night,"  said 
£ ;  "or  rather  it  would  be  all  day  on  one  side  of  the  earth, 
and  all  night  on  the  other." 

"  That  would  be  unpleasant,"  laughed  Wade  ;  "  worse 
than  they  have  it  up  at  the  north  pole." 

"  It  is  some  consolation,"  said  Kaed,  "to  know  that  such 
a  state  of  things  is  not  likely  to  come  in  our  time.  Ac- 
cording to  a  careful  calculation,  the  length  of  the  day  is 
not  thus  increased  more  than  a  second  in  a  hundred  and 
sixty-eight  thousand  years." 

"  But  how  are  we  to  go  aboard,  sir  ?  "  inquired  Hobbs, 
to  whom  our  present  fix  was  of  more  interest  than  the 
long  days  of  far-distant  posterity. 

The  boat  had  been  tossed  about  here  and  there,  and 
was  now  some  twenty  or  thirty  yards  astern  of  the 
schooner. 

"  Have  to  swim  for  it,"  said  Donovan. 

"  Not  in  this  icy  water,  I  hope,"  said  Kit.  "  Can't  we 
devise  a  plan  to  capture  it  ?  " 

"  They  might  tie  a  belaying-pin  to  the  end  of  .%  line, 
and  throw  it  into  the  boat,"  said  the  captain. 

"  Or,  better  still,  one  of  those  long  cod-lines  with  the 
heavy  sinker  and  hook  on  it,"  suggested  Hobbs. 

"  Just  the  thing ! "  exclaimed  Capt.  Hazard.  "  Sing 
out  to  them  ! " 

"  Unless  I'm  mistaken,  that  is  just  what  old  Trull  is 
up  to  now,"  said  Wade.  "  He's  throwing  something  , 
eee  that ! " 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  71 

As  Wade  said,  old  man  Trull  was  throwing  a  line,  with 
what  turned  out  to  be  one  of  our  small  grapnels  attached. 
The  first  throw  fell  short,  and  the  line  was  drawn  in ; 
the  second  and  third  went  aside ;  but  the  fourth  landed 
the  grapnel  in  the  boat.  It  was  hauled  in.  Weymouth 
and  Corliss  then  got  aboard,  and  came  off  to  us. 

"  Well,  boys,  what  sort  of  a  dry  storm  have  you  been 
having  here  ?  "  said  the  captain  as  they  came  up  under 
where  we  stood. 

"  Never  saw  such  a  hole ! "  exclaimed  Weymouth. 
"You  don't  know  how  we  were  slat  about !  We  went 
right  up  on  it !  Had  to  pay  out  six  fathom  of  extra 
cable,  anyway.  D'ye  mind  what  a  thundering  noise 
that  ice  made  ?  " 

We  went  off  to  the  schooner.  Trull  stood  awaiting  us, 
grinning  grimly. 

"  I  don't  gen'ly  give  advice  to  my  betters,"  he  began, 
with  a  hitch  at  his  trousers ;  "  but "  — 

"  You'd  be  getting  out  of  this  ?  "  finished  Raed. 

"  I  wud,  sur." 

There  was  a  general  laugh  all  round.  But  the  wind 
had  set  dead  in  the  south-east  again.  There  was  no 
room  for  tacking  in  the  narrow  inlet.  To  get  out  we 
should  have  to  tow  the  schooner  a  mile  against  the  wind, 
—  among  ice  too.  Clearly  we  must  lay  here  till  the  wind 
favored.  We  concluded,  however,  to  change  our  position 
for  one  a  little  lower  down,  and  nearer  the  middle  of  the 
cove.  The  anchor  was  heaved  up  preparatory  to  towing 
the  vessel  along.  The  men  had  considerable  difficulty  in 
starting  it  off  the  bottom ;  and,  on  getting  it  up,  one  of  the 
flukes  was  found  to  be  chipped  off,  —  bits  as  large  as  one'a 


72 


LEFT   ON   LABRADOR. 


fist,  probably  from  catching  among  jaggod  rocks  at  the 
bottom.  We  thought  that  this  might  also  account  for 
the  tenacity  with  which  the  anchor  held  against  the 
tide.  Doubtless  there  were  crevices  and  cracks,  with 
great  bowlders,  scattered  about  on  the  bottom  of  the 
cove.  Towing  "  The  Curlew  "  back  not  far  from  a  hun- 
dred yards  from  our  first  berth,  the  anchor  was  again  let 
go  in  thirty-seven  fathoms  ;  and,  for  additional  security, 
a  second  cable  was  bent  to  our  extra  anchor,  which  we 
dropped  out  of  the  stern.  This  matter,  with  arrange- 
ments for  heaving  the  anchor  up  with  tackle  and  fall  (for 
we  had  no  windlass  in  the  stern),  took  up  the  time  tilJ 
considerably  past  noon. 


CHAPTER   V. 


A  Dead  Narwhal.  —  Snowy  Owls.  —  Two  Bears  in  Sight.  —  Firing  on 
them  with  the  Howitzer. — A  Bear-Hunt  among  the  Ice.  —  An  Ice 
"  Jungle."  —  An  Exciting  Chase.  — The  Bear  turns.  —  Palmleaf  makes 
"a  Sure  Shot."—"  Run,  you  Black  Son!  " 


ABOUT  two  o'clock  a  dead  narwhal  came  floating 
out  with  the  ice  from  the  north-east  arm,  and 
passed  quite  near  the  schooner,  —  so  near,  that  we  could 
judge  pretty  accurately  as  to  its  length,  which  we 
estimated  to  he  twenty  or  twenty-two  feet ;  and  its 
horn,  or  tusk,  which  was  partly  under  water,  could  not 
have  heen  less  than  five  feet. 

"Killed  among  the  ice  there,  I  reckon,"  said  Capt 
Mazard.  "  Crushed  up.  I  should  not  wonder  if  there 
were  a  great  many  large  fish  killed  so." 

It  seemed  not  improbable ;  for  we  had  seen  several 
snowy  owls  hovering  over  the  ice-packs;  and  about  an 
hcur  afterwards,  as  we  were  reading  in  the  cabin,  Wey- 
mouth  came  down  to  say  that  a  couple  of  bears  were  in 
sight  up  there  among  the  ice.  We  went  up  immediate- 
ly. None  of  us  had  ever  seen  a  white  bear,  save  at 
menageries,  where  they  had  to  keep  the  poor  brutes 
dripping  with  ice-water,  they  were  so  near  roasting  with 
our  climate.  To  see  a  white  bear  prowling  in  his  native 
icp-lastnesses  was,  therefore,  a  novel  spectacle  for  us. 

73 


74  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

They  were  distant  from  the  echooner,  at  a  rough 
guess,  five  hundred  yards,  and  seemed  to  have  a  good 
deal  of  business  about  a  hole,  or  chasm,  among  the  loose 
joe  at  some  distance  up  the  arm. 

"  Seal  or  a  dead  finner  in  there,  I'll  be  bound,"  said 
the  captain.  "  No w,  boys,  there's  a  chance  for  a  bear- 
huut-I  " 

, "  Suppose  we  give  'em  a  shot  from  my  cannon-rifle," 
J  suggested. 

"Better  take  the  howitzer,"  said  Raed.  "Load  it 
with  a  grist  of  those  bullets." 

"  That'll  be  the  most  likely  to  fetch  'em,"  laughed  the 
captain. 

Wade  ran  down  after  the  powder  and  balls.  The  rest 
of  us  unlaslied  the  gun,  got  off  the  rubber-cloth,  and 
trundled  it  along  to  point  it  over  the  starboard  rail. 
Kaed  then  swabbed  it  out ;  Kit  poured  in  the  powder  ; 
while  Wade  and  I  rammed  down  a  wad  of  old  news- 
paper. 

"Now  put  in  a  good  dose  of  these  blue-pills,"  ad- 
vised the  captain,  scooping  up  both  hands  full  from  the 
bag  in  which  we  kept  them. 

"Ef  you  war  ter  jest  tie  'em  up,  or  wrop  'em  in  a  bit 
of  canvas,  they'd  go  straighter,  and  wouldn't  scatter 
round  so  bad,"  remarked  old  Trull,  who  was  not  an 
uninterested  spectator  of  the  proceedings. 

"Make  them  up  sort  of  grape  or  canister  shot 
Cushion,  you  mean,"  said  Raed. 

"  Yes  ;  that's  what  I  mean,  — ter  keep  'em  frum  sc.-it- 
terin'." 

"Not    a  bad   idea,"   said    Capt.    Hazard.      "  Wey- 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  7ft 

mouth,  bring  a  piece  of  old  canvas  and  a  bit  of  manil*- 
yarn." 

About  a  quart  of  the  ounce  balls  were  hastily 
wrapped  in  the  canvas,  and  lashed  up  with  the  hempen 
twine.  The  bag  was  then  rammed  down  upon  the  pow- 
der, and  the  howitzer  pointed. 

"Let  old  Trull  do  the  shooting,"  whispered  Kit. 
"  He  will  be  as  likely  to  hit  as  any  of  us." 

"  Mr.  Trull,"  Capt.  Hazard  began,  "  we  must  look  to 
you  to  shoot  those  bears  for  us.  Pepper  'em  good, 
now ! " 

At  that  we  all  stood  away  from  the  gun.  The  old 
fellow  grinned,  hesitated  a  moment,  then  stepped  for- 
ward, evidently  not  a  little  nattered  by  the  confidence 
reposed  in  him.  First  he  sighted  the  piece  very  methodi- 
cally. The  schooner  lay  perfectly  stilj.  A  better 
chance  for  a  shot  cquld  hardly  have  been  asked  for. 
Palmleaf  now  came  up  with  a  bit  of  tarred  rope  lighted 
at  the  stove,  and  smoking  after  the  manner  of  a  slow 
match,  with  a  red  coal  at  the  end.  Trull  took  the  rope, 
and,  watching  his  chance  till  both  the  bears  were  in 
sight  and  near  each  other,  touched  the  priming, — • 
TIZZ-Z-Z-WHA.XG  \ 

The  carriage  recoiled  almost  as  smartly  as  my  big 
rifle  had  done.  Why  is  it  that  a  person  standing  near 
a  gun  —  especially  a  heavy  gun  —  can  never  see  what 
execution  is  done  during  the  first  second  or  two  ?  He 
may  hare  his  eye  on  the  mark  at  the  discharge,  but 
somehow  the  report  always  throws  his  ocular  apparatus 
out  of  gear.  In  a  moment  I  espied  one  of  the  bears 
scrambling  over  an  ice-cake.  The  other  had  already 


76  I  EFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

disappeared ;  or  else  was  killed,  and  had  fallen  down  some 
fissure. 

"  Man  the  boat !  "  exclaimed  Raed.  "  I'm  anxious  to 
see  the  result  of  that  shot !  Bring  up  those  muskets, 
Wade!" 

"  Who  goes  on  the  bear-hunt,  and  who  stays  ?  "  cried 
the  captain. 

"  I'll  stand  by  the  vassel,"  said  old  Trull.  "  Guard 
and  I  will  look  out  for  tilings  on  board." 

"Den  I'll  take  his  place,  sar !"  exclaimed  Palmleaf, 
catching  the  enthusiasm  of  the  thing. 

Wade  appeared  with  the  muskets.  Five  of  them 
were  already  loaded.  Cartridges  were  soon  clapped  into 
six  more.  Wade  handed  us  each  one,  including  Palm- 
leaf. 

"  See  that  you  don't  shoot  any  of  us  with  it,  you 
lubber  ! "  he  said. 

"  Neber  fear,  sar,"  replied  the  negro  with  a  grin. 
"  I'se  called  a  berry  good  shot  at  Petersburg,  sar.  Fit 
there,  sar,  —  on  the  Linkum  side." 

"You  did?" 

"Yes,  sar.     Called  a  berry  sure  shot,  sar." 

Kit  and  Raed  began  to  laugh. 

"  Come,  tumble  in,  boys !  "  shouted  the  captain,  who 
didn't  see  the  point  quite  so  clearly  as  we  did. 

We  got  into  the  boat,  —  eleven  of  us ;  about  as  many 
as  could  find  room.  Hobbs  and  Bonney  lay  back  at  the 
oars.  Kit  steered  us  up  to  the  low  ledges  of  the  small 
island  on  the  west  side  of  the  ice-packed  arm,  where  the 
bears  had  b«en  seen.  We  landed,  and  pulled  the  boat 
up  after  us.  No  danger  from  the  tide  at  this  time  of 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  77 

day.  The  captain  and  Kaed  led  off,  climbing  over  the 
rocks,  and  following  along  the  jam  of  ice,  which  was 
piled  considerably  higher  than  the  shore  of  the  arm. 
Palinleaf,  jolly  as  a  darky  need  be,  kept  close  behind 
them.  The  rest  followed  as  best  they  might,  clamber- 
ing from  ledge  to  ledge.  Wade  and  I  brought  up  the 
rear. 

"  Only  look  at  that  nigger ! "  muttered  my  kinsman 
of  Southern  blood.  "  Impudent  dog !  I  would  like  to 
crack  his  head  with  the  but  of  this  musket !  Hear 
how  he  wagged  his  tongue,  to  me  ?" 

"  Well,  you  called  him  a  lubber." 

"What  of  that?" 

"  What  of  that  ?  Why,  you  must  expect  him  to  talk 
back :  that's  all.  He's  a  free  man,  now,  you  know." 

"  The  more's  the  pity  ! " 

« I  don't  see  it." 

"I'd  like  to  have  the  handling  of  that  nigger 
a  while ! " 

"No  doubt.  But  you  might  just  as  well  get  over 
those  longings  first  as  last,"  I  said ;  for  I  was  beginning 
to  get  sick  of  his  foolish  spirit.  "  You  had  better  forget 
the  war,  bury  your  old-time  prejudices,  and  start  new  in 
the  world,  resolved  to  live  and  let  live ;  to  be  a  good 
fellow,  and  treat  everybody  alike  and  well.  That's  the 
way  we  do  in  the  North,  —  or  ought  to." 

Wade  said  not  a  word.  I  rather  pity  the  fellow.  He 
has  got  some  mighty  hard,  painful  lessons  to  learn 
before  he  will  be  able  to  start  right  in  life. 

Kaed  and  the  captain  had  stopped. 

"  They  were  right  opposite  here,  over  among  the  ice," 


78  LKFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

Raed  was  saying."  "I  marked  the  spot  by  that  high 
cake  sticking  up  above  the  rest." 

"We  need  scaling-ladders  to  get  up  among  it," 
laughed  Kit.  "Talk  of  impenetrable  jungles!  here  is 
a  jui.'gle  of  ice  !" 

Imagine,  reader,  a  thousand  ice-cakes  from  six  to 
thirty  feet  square,  and  of  every  grade  of  thickness,  piled 
Bi'dewise,  edgewise,  slantwise,  crosswise,  and  flatwise 
on  top  of  that,  and  you  .may,  perhaps,  gain  some  idea  of 
the  vast  jam  which  filled  the  arm  and  lay  heaped  up 
twenty  and  thirty  feet  above  us.  For  a  moment  we 
•were  at  a  loss  how  to  surmount  it ;  then  all  began  look- 
«ng  along  for  some  available  cranny  or  rift  which  might 
>ffer  a  foothold. 

"  Here's  a  breach  !  "  Weyinouth  shouted. 

He  had  gone  along  a  dozen  rods  farther.  We  fol- 
lowed to  see  him  mounting  by  the  jagged  edge  of  a 
vast  cake  five  or  six  feet  thick  which  projected  out  over 
the  ledges.  Kit  followed ;  and  they  stood  at  the  top, 
stretching  down  helping  hands.  In  five  minutes  we 
were  all  up,  standing,  clinging,  and  balancing  on  the 
glassy  edges  of  ice,  and  hopping  and  leaping  from  cake 
to  cake.  Cracks,  crevices,  and  jagged  holes  opened  ten, 
fifteen,  and,  twenty  feet  sheer  down  all  about  us.  A 
single  misstep  would  send  us  head-foremost  into  them. 

"I  say,"  exclaimed  Capt.  Hazard,  barely  saving 
himself  from  a  tumble,  "this  is  a  devil  of  a  funny 
place  for  a  bear-hunt !  No  chance  for  rapid  retreats ! 
It  will  be  fight  bear,  or  die  !  " 

The  place  where  the  bears  had  stood  when  old  Trull 
had  fired  was  back  fifteen  or  twenty  rods  to  the  right 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  79 

We  worked  off  in  that  direction,  getting  occasional 
glimpses  of  the  water  down  in  the  deep  holes,  and 
stopping  once  to  pull  Corliss  out  of  a  wedge-shaped 
crevice  into  which  lie  had  slipped.  Arriving  on  a  big 
broad  cake,  —  which,  for  a  wonder,  lay  flat  side  up,  —  we 
paused  to  reconnoitre. 

"  Don't  see  any  thing  of  'em,"  said  the  captain. 

"  Gone,  I'll  bet  my  musket ! "  said  Kit  disappointedly. 
"  More'n  a  league  away  by  this  time,  I'll  warrant  you." 

"  Doubt  if  the  old  man  touched  'ern  ! "  said  Hobbs. 

"Guess  he  suspected  as  much !  "  laughed  the  captain. 
"Perhaps  that  was  why  he  wouldn't  come." 

"  But  we  haven't  half  searched  yet ! "  exclaimed 
Wade,  pushing  out  along  the  edge  of  a  tilted-up  frag- 
ment, and  jumping  across  to  another. 

As  he  jumped  the  ticklish  cake  tipped,  slid  back,  and 
toppled  over  into  a  great  chasm  to  the  right  with  a 
tremendous  crash  and  spattering,  —  for  there  was  water 
at  the  bottom,  —  Wade  barely  saving  himself.  Almost 
at  the  same  instant,  I  thought  I  heard  a  low  growl  not 
far  off. 

"  Hark  ! "  exclaimed  Kit.     "  Wasn't  that  the  bear  ?  " 

"  Sounded  like  one !  "  muttered  the  captain.  "  Down 
among  the  ice  ! " 

"  May  be  wounded  down  there,"  said  Kit.  "  Crawled 
in  under  the  ice." 

"  Spread  out  round  here,  boys,"  cried  the  captain, 
"  and  peep  sharp  into  the  holes ! " 

I  knew  we  were  near  where  the  bullets  from  the 
howitzer  had  hit ;  for  I  saw  several  of  them  lying  down 
in  the  cracks,  flattened  by  stu'king  against  the  ice :  and. 


80  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

a  few  rods  farther  on,  Weymouth  and  I  came  to  a  largo 
irregular  hole  sixteen  or  seventeen  feet  deep,  along  the 
bottom  of  which  we  saw  the  bones  of  some  fish. 

This  is  the  very  place  where  they  were  when  we  first 
saw  them,"  said*  Weymouth.  "Ten  to  one  they're 
crawled  into  some  of  those  big  cracks." 

We  pitched  down  a  loose  junk  of  ice,  and  again 
heard  a  growl :  though  just  where  it  issued  from  was 
hard  telling ;  for  the  broad  faces  of  the  cakes,  set  at  all 
angles,  echoed  the  sound  in  a  most  bewildering  manner. 
Kit  and  the  captain  came  along ;  and  we  rolled  down 
another  fragment.  Another  growl. 

"  He's  in  behind  this  great  cake  that  sets  upright 
against  the  side  of  the  hole  ! "  exclaimed  Weymouth. 

"Think  so?  "said  Kid.  "Then  let's  tip  this  large 
piece  off  on  to  it.  May  scare  him  out." 

We  managed  to  turn  it  over  the  edge ;  when  it  fell 
down  smash  upon  the  cake  below,  splitting  it  in  two. 
Instantly  the  bear,  a  great  shaggy,  white  fellow,  sprang 
out,  and  ran  round  at  the  bottom  of  the  hole,  growling, 
and  trying  to  scratch  up  the  sides.  He  had  several 
bloody  streaks  on  him  Kit  took  a  rapid  aim,  and  fired 
a  bullet  into  his  fore-shoulder;  which  only  made  him 
growl  the  louder,  however.  Then  the  captain  gave  him 
a  shot  in  the  head ;  at  which  the  creature  tumbled  down, 
and  kicked  his  last  very  quietly. 

But  meanwhile  we  had  heard  a  great  uproar  and 
shouting  off  to  the  left. 

"They've  started  the  other,  I  guess  !"  exclaimed  Kit. 
«  Come  on ! " 

Just  then  a  shot  waa  fired,  followed  by  a  noise  of 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  81 

falling  ice-cakes.  We  could  see  a  head  bob  up  oc- 
casionally, and  made  for  the  melee  as  fast  as  we  could 
hop.  The  jam  in  this  direction  was  not  so  high.  The 
ice-cakes  lay  flatter,  and  were  less  heaped  one  above  the 
other.  Cries  of  "  There  he  is  !  there  he  goes !  "  burst 
out  on  a  sudden  ;  then  another  musket-shot. 

Leaping  on,  we  soon  caught  sight  of  the  chase.  The 
bear  was  jumping  from  cake  to  cake.  Raed,  Corliss, 
and  Hobbs  were  following  after  him  at  a  reckless  pace ; 
Bonney  was  trying  to  cut  him  off  on  the  right ;  while 
Wade  and  Donovan,  with  Palmleaf  a  few  rods  behind 
them,  were  heading  him  on  the  left.  Such  a  shouting 
and  hallooing!  They  were  all  mad  with  excitement. 
We,  who  had  killed  our  bear,  kept  after  them  as  fast  as 
^ve  could  run,  but  couldn't  begin  to  catch  up. 

Bang  !     Somebody  fired  at  him  then. 

'Twas  Hobbs. 

"Cut  him  off!" 

"  Head  him  ! "  was  the  cry. 

"He's  hit!" 

"  Head  him  off  there  ! " 

Wade  and  Donovan  were  actually  outstripping  the 
bear,  and  getting  ahead ;  seeing  which,  the  frightened, 
maddened  beast  tacked  sharp  to  the  left  to  escape  behind 
them  on  that  side,  —  going  straight  for  Palmleaf,  who 
was  now  considerably  behind  Wade  and  Don.  Instant- 
ly a  yell  arose  from  all  hands. 

"Lookout,  Palmleaf!" 

"Shoot  him,  Palmleaf!" 

•'  Let  him  have  it ! " 

"Aim  low!" 

6 


82  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Now's  your  time  !  " 

The  negro,  who  had  been  running  hard,  stopped  short, 
and,  seeing  the  bear  bounding  toward  him,  made  a  feint 
to  raise  his  musket,  when  it  went  off,  either  from  accident 
or  terror,  in  the  air.  We  heard  the  bullet  zip  fifty  feet 
overhead.  The  bear  gave  a  vicious  growl,  and  made 
directly  at  him. 

"He'll  have  the  darky!" 

"He'll  have  you,  Palmleaf !  " 

"Run,  fool!" 

"  Run,  you  black  son  ! " 

Palmleaf  turned  to  run ;  but,  seeing  a  high  rand  of  ice 
sticking  up  a  few  yards  to  his  left,  he  leaped  for  it,  and, 
jumping  up,  caiight  his  hands  at  the  top,  and  tried  to 
draw  himself  up  on  to  it.  The  bear  was  within  six  feet 
of  him,  snarling  like  a  fury. 

Bang  ! 

Bang  ! 

Bang  ! 

Raed  and  Corliss  and  Bonney  had  fired  within  twenty 
yards.  But  the  bear  reared,  and  struck  with  his  fore- 
paws  at  the  darky's  legs,  stripping  his  trousers  clean  off 
the  firs4  pull.  Such  a  howl  as  came  from  his  terrified 
throat ! 

Crack  ! 

That  was  a  better  shot.  The  bear  turned,  or  set  out 
to,  but  fell  down  in  a  heap,  then  scrambled  up,  but  im- 
mediately tumbled  over  again,  and  lay  kicking. 

By  this  time  we  had  all  got  near.  The  negro,  scared 
nearly  into  fits,  still  hung  on  to  the  edge  of  the  ice. 
looking  as  if  "  spread-eagled  "  to  it. 


'  RUN,  YOU  BLACK  SON  !" 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  S3 

"Come,  sir,"  said  Wade.  "Better  get  down  and  put 
on  your  trousers,  — what  there  is  left  of  them." 

The  darky  turned  an  agonized,  appealing  visage  ovei 
his  shoulder,  but,  seeing  only  friends  instead  of  bears, 
let  go  his  hold,  and  dropped  to  his  feet. 

'•'That's  what  you  call  a  'sure  shot/  is  it,"  sneered 
Wade,  —  "  that  one  you  fired  at  the  bear  ?  Guess  you 
didn't  hurt  us  much  at  Petersburg." 

"  He  need  to  be  pretty  thankful  that  somebody  fired 
a  sure  shot  about  the  time  the  bear  was  paying  his 
compliments  to  him,"  laughed  the  captain. 

"  Yes :  who  fired  that  last  shot  ?  "  I  asked  of  Dono- 
van, who  stood  near. 

"Wade  did." 

We  had  to  send  back  to  the  schooner  for  the  butcher- 
knives,  and  also  for  a  line  to  hoist  the  bear  we  had  first 
killed  out  of  the  hole. 

The  bears  were  skinned:  we  wanted  to  save  their 
hides  for  trophies.  As  nearly  as  we  could  make  out, 
they  had  been  both  wounded  by  the  bullets  from  the 
howitzer,  one  of  them  —  the  one  killed  first  —  pretty 
severely.  They  did  not,  however,  appear  to  me,  in  this 
our  first  encounter  with  them,  to  be  nearly  so  fierce  nor 
so  formidable  as  I  had  expected,  from  accounts  I  had 
read.  Hobbs  cut  out  a  piece  of  the  haunch  for  steaks. 
Pal  mleaf  afterwards  cooked  it :  but  we  didn't  much  rel- 
ish it,  save  Guard ;  and  he  ate  the  most  of  it. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

The  Middle  Savage  Isles.  —  Glimpse  of  an  Esquimau  Canoe.  —  Firing  at 
a  Bear  with  the  Cannon-Eifle.  —  A  Strange  Sound.  —  The  Esquimaux. 

—  Their  Kayaks.  — They  come  on  board.  —  An  Unintelligible  Tongue. 

—  "Chymo." 

DURING  the  night  following  our  bear-hunt  a  storm 
came  on, — wind,  rain,  and  snow,  as  before,  —  and 
continued  all  the  next  day.  The  tremendous  tides,  how- 
ever, effectually  prevented  any  thing  like  dulness  from 
tl  creeping  over  our  spirits ; "  since  we  were  sure  of  a  sen- 
sation at  least  twice  in  twenty-four  hours.  But  during 
the  next  night  it  cleared  up,  with  the  wind  north ;  and, 
quite  early  on  the  morning  of  the  llth  of  July,  we 
dropped  out  of  "  Hazard's  Bay,"  and  stood  away  up  the 
straits. 

At  one  o'clock  we  sighted  another  group  of  moun- 
tainous isles,  —  the  same  figured  on  the  chart  as  the 
"  Middle  Savage  Isles  ; "  and  by  five  o'clock  we  were 
passing  the  easternmost  a  couple  of  miles  to  the  south- 
ward. Between  it  and  the  next  island,  which  lay  a  lit- 
tle back  to  the  north,  there  was  a  sort  of  bay  filled  with 
floating  ice.  R,aed  was  leaning  on  the  bulwarks  with 
his  glass,  scanning  the  islands  as  we  bowled  along  under 
a  full  spread  of  canvas.  Suddenly  he  turned,  and  called 
to  Kit. 

84 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  85 

"Get  your  glass,"  he  said.  "Or  never  mind:  take 
mine.  Xow  look  right  up  there  between  those  islands, 
What  do  you  see  ?  " 

"  Seals/'  replied  Kit  slowly,  with  the  glass  to  his  eye. 
"  Any  quantity  of  seals  on  the  ice  there ;  and  —  there's 
something  larger  scooting  along.  That's  a  narwhal: 
no,  'tain't,  either.  By  jolly !  see  the  seals  flop  off  into 
the  water  as  it  shoots  along  !  afraid  of  it.  There  !  some- 
thing flashed  then  in  the  sun !  Raed,  I  believe  that's  a 
kayak,  —  an  Esquimau  canoe !  An  Esquimau  catching 
seals ! " 

"  That's  what  I  thought." 

"Wash!" 

"  Wade ! " 

"  Get  your  glasses,  and  come  here  quick  ! " 

"  What's  that  about  Esquimau  ?  "  demanded  Capt. 
Mazard,  coming  along  from  the  binnacle. 

"  An  Esquimau  kayak  !  "  said  Raed. 

"  That  so  ?  "  running  after  his  glass. 

In  a  few  moments  we  were  all  —  all  who  had  glasses  — 
looking  off  at  the  wonderful  object,  to  see  which  had  been 
one  of  the  pleasant  hopes  of  our  voyage ;  and  yet  I  am 
bound  to  say,  that,  in  and  of  itself,  it  was  no  great  of  a 
sight,  especially  at  a  distance  of  two  miles.  But,  con- 
sidered as  an  invention  perfected  through  centuries  by 
>ne  of  the  most  singular  peoples  of  the  Man  family,  it  is, 
in  connection  with  all  their  implements  of  use,  well 
worth  a  study.  Indeed,  there  is,  to  me  at  least,  some- 
thing so  inexpressibly  quaint  and  bizarre  about  this  race, 
as  to  render  them  an  object  well  deserving  of  a  visit. 
More  s*  rikingly  even  than  the  Hottentot  or  the  Digger 


86  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Indian  of  the  Western  sage  deserts  do  they  exhibit  tho 
iron  sway  of  climate  and  food  over  habits  and  character, 
as  well  as  physical  growth  and  development. 

The  kayak  moved  about  from  point  to  point  for  soma 
minutes ;  then  shot  up  into  the  passage  between  the  islets, 
and  was  lost  from  view. 

"Suppose  he  saw  us,  —  saw  the  schooner?"  said 
Wade. 

"  Should  have  thought  he  might,"  replied  the  captain. 
•'Must  be  a  pretty  conspicuous  object  out  here  in  the 
sun,  with  all  sail  set." 

"  He  may  have  gone  to  give  news  of  our  arrival,"  said 
Baed ;  "  for  I  presume  there  are  others  —  whole  families 
— not  far  away.  These  people  always  live  in  small  com- 
munities or  villages,  I  understand." 

"  This  may  be  as  good  a  chance  to  see  them  as  we 
shall  get,"  said  Kit.  "  What  say  for  shortening  sail,  or 
standing  up  nearer  the  islands,  and  laying  to  for  the 
night?" 

"  Just  as  you  say,  gentlemen,"  replied  the  captain. 

It  was  agreed  to  stand  up  within  half  a  mile,  and  so 
cruise  along  leisurely ;  thus  giving  them  a  chance  to 
communicate  with  us  if  they  desired.  Tho  helm  was 
accordingly  put  round,  and  "The  Curlew"  headed  for 
the  second  island.  Half  an  hour  took  us  up  within  a 
thousand  yards  of  the  ledges :  the  schooner  was  then 
hove  to  for  an  hour. 

"  A  few  discharges  from  the  howitzer  might  stir  them 
up,"  suggested  Wade. 

"  We  could  do  that ! "  exclaimed  Eaed. 

Powder  was  brought  up,  and  the  gun  charged  and 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  87 

fired.  A  thunderous  echo  came  back  from  the  rocky  sidea 
of  the  islands.  A  second  and  a  third  shot  were  given  at 
intervals  of  five  minutes :  hut  we  saw  nothing  more  of 
the  kayak;  and,  after  waiting  nearly  an  hour  more,  the 
schooner  was  headed  around,  and  continued  on  her  course 
*t  about  the  same  distance  from  the  islands.  A  gun 
was  fired  every  hour  till  midnight.  We  then  turned  in 
for  a  nap. 

From  this  time  till  four  o'clock  the  next  morning  we 
passed  three  islands  :  so  the  sailors  reported.  The  high 
mainland  was  distinctly  visible  four  or  five  miles  to  the 
northward. 

At  five  o'clock  we  were  off  a  small,  low  islet, — 
scarcely  more  than  a  broad  ledge,  rising  at  no  point 
more  than  ten  feet  above  the  sea.  It  was  several  miles 
from  the  island  next  above  it,  however,  and  girdled  by 
a  glittering  ice-field,  the  remains  of  last  winter's  frost, 
not  yet  broken  up.  Altogether  the  islet  and  the  ice- 
field about  it  was  perhaps  two  or  two  miles  and  a  half 
in  diameter.  On  the  west  it  was  separated  from  the 
island  below  it  —  a  high,  black  dome  of  sienite — by  a 
narrow  channel  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards.  Hundreds 
of  seals  lay  basking  in  the  sun  along  the  edges  of  the  ice- 
field ;  and,  as  we  were  watching  them,  we  saw  a  bear  swim 
across  the  channel  and  climb  on  to  the  ice-field.  Land- 
ing, he  gave  his  shaggy  sides  a  shake ;  then,  making  a 
short  run,  seized  upon  a  seal,  off  which  he  was  soon  break- 
fasting. 

"  We'll  spoil  his  fun  ! "  exclaimed  Kit.  "  Bring  up 
one  of  those  solid  shots.  Wade.  We've  got  two  bear- 
skins ;  but  we  shall  want  one  apiece.  I  propose  to  hare 
an  overcoat  next  winter  out  of  that  fellow's  hide." 


88  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

The  howitzer  was  loaded  with  the  six-poand  iron 
ball.  Kit  undertook  to  do  the  shooting  this  time,  ifho 
distance  was,  we  judged,  somewhere  from  three-fourtha 
of  a  mile  to  a  mile.  The  rest  of  us  got  our  glasses,  and 
went  hack  toward  the  stern  to  watch  the  effect  of  the 
sliot.  Of  course  it  is  hap-hazard  work,  firing  at  so  small 
an  object  at  so  great  a  distance,  with  a  cannon,  from  the 
deck  of  a  vessel  in  motion.  Nevertheless  Kit  made 
quite  a  show  of  elevating  the  gun  and  getting  the  range. 
Presently  he  touched  off.  The  first  we  saw  of  the  shot 
was  its  striking  on  the  ice-field  at  a  long  distance  short 
of  the  bear.  The  bits  of  ice  flew  up  smartly,  and  the 
ball  must  have  ricochetted ;  for  we  saw  the  ice  fly  up 
again  quite  near  the  bear,  and  then  at  another  point  be- 
yond him.  It  probably  went  over  him  at  no  great  height. 
The  creature  paused  from  his  bloody  feast,  looked  round, 
and  then  ran  off  a  few  rods,  and  stood  sniffing  for  some 
moments,  but  soon  came  back  to  the  seal.  Whether  it 
was  the  report,  or  the  noise  of  the  ball  whirring  over, 
which  had  startled  him,  was  not  very  evident. 

"  Not  an  overcoat !  "  laughed  Kaed. 

"  It's  my  turn  now,"  s*aid  I,  uncovering  my  smaller 
cannon.  "  I'll  make  the  next  bid  for  that  overcoat." 

I  put  in  a  little  less  than  half  a  gill  of  powder  this 
time,  and  wrapped  a  thin  patch  round  the  ball  to  make 
it  fit  tightly.  It  was  all  we  could  do  to  drite  it  down, 
The  gun  was  then  capped  and  cocked.  I  moved  the 
screw  to  elevate  it  about  an  inch,  and,  watching  my 
chance  as  the  schooner  heaved,  let  drive.  But  the  beai 
kept  on  eating  There  was  a  general  laugh. 

"  Didu't  even  notice  you ! "  cried  Kit.     "  I  can  over- 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  89 

bid  that ! "  —  taking  up  the  powder  to  reload  the  how- 
itzer. 

"  Not  before  I  bid  again,"  said  I. 

And  at  it  we  went  to'  see  who  would  get  loaded  first 
to  get  the  next  shot.  But,  my  gun  being  so  much  the 
smaller  and  more  easily  handled,  I  had  my  ball  down 
before  Kit  had  his  powder-wad  rammed.  The  rest  stood 
clapping  and  cheering  us.  Hastily  priming  the  tube,  I 
whipped  on  a  cap,  then  bedconed  to  old  Trull. 

"  Here,"  said  I,  "  shoot  that  bear  for  me  ! " 

The  old  salt  chuckled,  and  had  his  eye  to  the  piece 
immediately.  I  snatched  up  my  glass.  Kit  paused  to 
see  the  result.  The  old  man  pulled  the  trigger.  There 
was  a  moment's  hush,  then  a  great  "  Hurrah ! "  The  bear 
had  jumped  up,  and,  whirling  partly  round,  ran  off 
across  the  ice-field  roaring,  we  fancied  ;  for  he  had  his 
mouth  open,  and  snapping  round  to  his  flanks.  He  had 
been  grazed,  if  nothing  more.  With  the  glass  we  could 
detect  blood  on  his  white  coat. 

"  He's  hit ! "  said  I.  "  Let's  bear  up  into  the  chan- 
nel: that'll  stop  him  from  getting  back  to  the  high 
islands.  We  can  then  hunt  him  at  leisure  on  the  ice- 
field. He  won't  care  to  swim  clean  up  to  the  "  — 

"Hark!"  exclaimed  Raed  suddenly.  "What's  that 
noise?" 

We  all  listened. 

It  was  a  noise  not  greatly  unlike  the  faint,  distant 
cawiiig  and  hawing  of  a  vast  flock  of  crows  as  they 
sometimes  congregate  in  autumn. 

"It's  some  sort  of  water-fowl  clanging  out  there  about 
the  high  islands,''  said  I. 


90  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Again  it  rose,  borne  on  the  wind,  —  "  Ta-yar-r-r ! 
ta-yar-r-r  !  ta-yar-r-r  !  "  Had  we  been  at  home,  I  should 
have  taken  it  for  a  distant  mass-meeting  cheering  the 
result  of  the  presidential  electi<$n,  or  perhaps  the  presi- 
dential nomination  at  the  convention.  It  had  a  pecu- 
liarly barbarous,  reckless  sound,  which  was  not  wholly 
unfamiliar.  But  up  here  in  Hudson  Strains  we  were 
at  a  loss  how  to  account  for  it. 

"  I  believe  it's  the  Huskies;"  said  the  captain.  "  Take 
a  good  look  all  around  with  your  glasses." 

We  ran  our  eyes  over  the  islands.  They  looked  bare 
of  any  thing  like  an  Esquimaux  convention.  Presently 
Kit  uttered  an  exclamation. 

"Why,  just  turn  your  glass  off  to  'he  main,  beyond 
the  islands ;  right  over  the  ice-field ;  on  that  lofty 
brown  headland  that  j  uts  out  from  the  main !  There 
they  are ! " 

There  they  were,  sure  enough,  —  a  grimy,  bare-headed 
crowd,  swinging  their  arms,  and  gesticulating  wildly.  It 
could  not  have  been  less  than  five  miles ;  but  the  faint 
"  Ta-yar-r-r  !  "  still  came  to  our  ears. 

"  Suppose  they  are  calling  to  us  ?  "  cried  Raed. 

"  Yes ;  looks  like  that,"  replied  the  captain. 

"  Heard  the  guns,  you  see,"  said  Kit ;  "  those  we 
fired  at  the  bear." 

"Port  the  helm  !  "  ordered  the  captain.  "We'll  beat 
up  through  this  channel  to  the  north  side  of  the  ice- 
field." 

"Perhaps  we  had  best  not  go  up  too  near  them  at 
first,"  remarked  Raed,  "till  we  find  out  what  sort  of 
folks  they  are." 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  91 

"  No :  two  miles  will  be  near  enough.  They  will  come 
>>ff  to  us,  —  as  many  of  them  as  we  shall  want  on  board 
at  one  time,  I  dare  say." 

The  schoonor  bore  up  through  the  channel,  and  wore 
along  the  ice-field  on  the  north  side  at  a  distance  of  a 
few  hundred  yards  from  it.  We  saw  the  bear  running 
off  round  to  the  south-east  side  to  keep  away  from  us ; 
though,  as  may  readily  be  supposed,  our  attention  was 
mainly  directed  to  the  strange  people  on  the  headland, 
whose  discordant  cries  and  shouts  could  now  be  plainly 
heard.  We  could  see  them  running  down  to  the  shore ; 
and  immediately  a  score  of  canoes  shot  out,  and  came 
paddling  towards  us. 

"You  don't  doubt  that  their  coming  off  is  from 
friendly  motives,  captain  ?  "  Kit  asked. 

"Oh,  no!" 

"Still  forty  or  fifty  stout  fellows  might  give  us  our 
hands  full,  if  they  were  ill  disposed,"  remarked  Wade. 

"  That's  a  fact,"  admitted  the  captain ;  "though  I  don't 
believe  they  would  attempt  any  thing  of  the  sort." 

"  Well,  there  is  no  harm  in  being  well  armed,"  said 
Raed.  "  Kit,  you  and  Wash  get  up  half  a  dozen  of  the 
muskets,  and  load  them.  Fix  the  bayonets  on  them 
too.  Wade  and  I  will  load  the  howitzer  and  the  mighty 
rifle.  And,  captain,  I  don't  believe  we  had  better  have 
more  than  a  dozen  of  them  aboard  at  one  time  till  we 
know  them  better." 

"  That  may  be  as  well,"  replied  Capt.  Hazard.  "  It 
will  be  unpleasant  having  too  many  of  them  aboard  at 
once,  anyway.  And,  in  order  to  have  the  deck  under 
our  thumb  a  little  more,  I  am  going  to  station  two  of 


92  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

the  sailors  with  muskets,  as  a  guard,  near  the  man  at 
the  wheel,  another  amidships,  and  two  more  forward." 

Meanwhile  the  kayaks  were  approaching,  a  wholo 
school  of  them,  shouting  and  racing  with  each  other. 
Such  a  barbaric  din  !  The  crowd  on  the  shore  added 
their  distant  shouts. 

"  There's  another  thing  we  must  look  out  for,"  re- 
marked the  captain.  "  These  folks  are  said  to  be  a 
little  thievish.  It  will  be  well  enough  to  put  loose  small 
articles  out  of  sight." 

Hastily  perfecting  our  arrangements,  we  provided 
ourselves  each  with  a  musket,  and  were  ready  for  our 
strange  visitors.  They  came  paddling  up,  one  to  a  ca- 
noe. Their  paddles  had  blades  at  each  end,  and  were 
used  on  either  side  alternately,  with  a  quefr  windmill 
sort  of  movement. 

"  Twenty-seven  of  them,"  said  Kit. 

"  Bareheaded,  every  mother's  son  of  them ! "  exclaimed 
Weymouth. 

"  Only  look  at  the  long-haired  mokes ! "  laughed 
Donovan. 

"Why,  they're  black  as  Palmleaf!"  cried  Hobbs. 

"Oh,  110 !  not  nearly  so  black,"  said  Bonney.  "Just 
a  good  square  dirt-color." 

This  last  comparison  was  not  far  from  correct.  The 
Esquimaux  are,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  considerably  darker 
t;han  the  red  Indians  of  the  United  States.  They  are 
not  reddish  :  they  are  brown,  to  which  grease  and  din- 
giness  add  not  a  little.  On  they  came  till  within  fifty 
yards  ;  when  all  drew  up  on  a  sudden,  and  sat  regarding 
us  in  something  like  silence.  Perhaps  our  bayonets, 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  93 

with  the  sunlight  flashing  on  them,  may  have  filled 
them  with  a  momentary  suspicion  of  danger.  Seeing 
this,  we  waved  our  arms  to  them,  beckoning  them  to 
approach.  While  examining  the  relics  of  a  past  age,  — 
the  stone  axes,  arrow-heads,  and  maces,  —  I  have  often 
pictured  in  fancy  the  barbarous  habits,  the  wild  visages, 
and  harsh  accents,  of  prehistoric  races,  — races  living  away 
back  at  the  time  when  men  were  just  rising  above  the 
brute.  In  the  wild  semi-brutish  shouts  and  gesticula- 
tions which  followed  our  own  gesture  of  friendliness  I 
seemed  to  hear  and  see  these  wild  fancies  verified,  — 
verified  in  a  manner  I  had  not  supposed  it  possible  to  be 
observed  in  this  age.  And  yet  here  were  primitive  sav- 
ages apparently,  not  fifteen  hundred  miles  in  a  direct 
course  from  our  own  enlightened  city  of  Boston,  where, 
as  we  honestly  believe,  we  have  the  cream  (some  of  it,  at 
least)  of  the  world's  civilization.  Reflect  on  this  fact, 
ye  who  think  the  whole  earth  almost  ready  for  the  reign 
of  scientific  righteousness  ! 

Such  an  unblessed  discord!  such  a  cry  of  pristine 
savagery !  They  came  darting  up  alongside,  their  great 
fat,  flat,  greasy  faces,  with  their  little  sharp  black  eyes, 
looking  up  to  us  full  of  confidence,  and  twinkling  with 
expectation  of  good  bargains. 

During  our  voyage  we  had  got  out  of  our  books 
quite  a  number  of  Esquimaux  words  with  their  English 
meanings ;  but  these  fellows  gabbled  so  fast,  so  shock- 
ingly indistinct,  and  ran  every  thing  together  so,  that  we 
could  not  gain  the  slightest  idea  of  what  they  were  say- 
ing, further  than  by  the  word  "  chymo"  which,  as  we  had 
previously  learned,  meant  trade,  or  barter.  But  they 


94  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

had  nothing  with  them  to  trade  off  to  us,  save  theii 
kayaks,  paddles,  and  harpoons. 

"  But  let's  get  a  lot  of  them  up  here  where  we  can  see 
them,"  said  "Wade. 

We  now  made  signs  for  them  to  climb  on  deck ;  and 
immediately  half  a  dozen  of  them  stood  up,  and,  with  a 
spring,  caught  hold  of  the  rail,  and  came  clambering  up, 
leaving  their  canoes  to  float  about  at  random.  Five  — 
seven  —  eleven  —  thirteen  —  came  scratching  over. 

"  There,  that'll  do  for  one  dose,"  said  Raed. 

Kit  and  Wade  stepped  along,  and  thrust  out  their 
muskets  to  stop  the  stream.  One  little  fellow,  however, 
had  got  half  up  :  so  they  let  him  nig  in,  making  fourteen 
in  all.  Three  or  four  more  had  tried  to  get  up  near  the 
stern ;  but  Weymouth  and  Don,  who  were  on  duty  there, 
rapped  their  knuckles  gently,  as  a  reminder  to  let  go 
and  drop  back  into  their  kayaks,  which  they  did  with- 
out grumbling.  Indeed,  they  seemed  singularly  inoffen- 
sive ;  and,  come  to  get  them  on  deck,  they  were  "  little 
fellows,"  —  not  so  tall  as  we  boys  even  by  a  whole  head. 
They  were  pretty  thick  and  stout,  however,  and  had 
remarkably  large  heads  and  faces.  I  do  not  think  the 
tallest  of  them  was  much  if  any  over  five  feet.  Dono- 
van, who  was  about  six  feet,  looked  like  a  giant  beside 
them.  They  stood  huddle  1  together,  looking  just  a 
little  wistful  at  being  cut  off  from  their  fellows,  and 
casting  fearful  glances  at  Guard,  who  stood  barking  ex- 
citedly at  them  from  the  companion-way.  Though  used 
to  dogs,  they  had  very  likely  never  seen  a  jet-black  New- 
foundland before.  Possibly  they  mistook  him  for  some 
different  animal. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  95 

"  What  are  we  thinking  of,"  exclaimed  Raed,  "  with 
our  guns  and  bayonets !  Why,  these  little  chaps  look 
the  very  embodiment  of  good  nature  !  Here  they  trust 
themselves  among  us  without  so  much  as  a  stick  in  thoir 
hands ;  while  we've  got  out  all  our  deadly  weapons ! 
Let's  let  the  rest  of  them  come  up  if  they  want  to." 

Kit  and  Wade  stood  back,  and  beckoned  to  the  others  : 
whereat  they  all  came  climbing  up,  save  one,  who 
etaid,  apparently,  to  look  out  for  the  empty  kayaks 
which  were  floating  about.  They  brought  rather  strong 
odors  of  smoke  and  greasy  manginess ;  but  more  good- 
natured  faces  I  never  saw. 

"  My  eye  !  but  aren't  they  flabby  fat ! "  exclaimed 
Hobbs. 

"  That  comes  of  drinking  seal  and  whale  oil,"  said 
Bonney. 

"  Guess  they  don't  sport  combs  much,"  said  Donovan. 
"  Look  at  those  tousled  heads  !  Bet  you,  they're  lousy 
as  hens ! " 

"  Talk  to  'em,  Raed,"  said  Kit.  "  Say  something. 
Ask  'em  if  they  want  to  chymo." 

At  the  sound  of  this  last  word  they  turned  their  little 
sharp  eyes  brightly  on  Kit. 

'•'  Chymo  ?  "  said  Kaed  interrogatively. 

Instantly  they  began  to  crowd  round  him,  a  dozen 
jabbering  all  at  once.  Faster  even  than  before  they 
ran  on,  amid  which  we  could  now  and  then  distinguish 
words  which  sounded  like  oomiaksook,  hennelay,  cob 
loo-nak,  ye-meck.  These  words,  as  we  had  read,  meant 
big  ship,  woman,  Englishman,  water,  respectively.  But 
it  was  utterly  impossible  to  make  out  in  what  connec- 


96  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

tion  they  were  used.  Despite  our  vocabulary,  we  were 
as  much  at  a  loss  as  ever. 

"Confound  it !"  Kit  exclaimed.  " Let's  make  signs. 
No  use  trying  to  talk  with  them." 

"  We  shall  want  one  of  those  kayaks  to  carry  home," 
remarked  Raed.  "  Captain,  will  you  please  bring  up  a 
couple  of  those  long  bars  of  iron  and  three  or  four  yards 
of  red  flannel  ?  We  will  see  what  can  be  done  in  the 
",hymo  line." 

Capt.  Hazard  soon  appeared  with  the  iron  and  the 
flannel ;  at  sight  of  which  the  exclamation  of  "  Cliymo  !  " 
and  "Tyma!  "  ("  Good  ! ")  were  redoubled.  Kaed  then 
took  the  articles,  and,  going  to  the  side,  pointed  down  to 
one  of  the  canoes,  then  to  the  iron  bars,  and  said  chymo. 
At  that  some  of  them  said  "  Tyma"  and  others  " Negga- 
mai,"  with  a  shake  of  their  heads ;  but  when  Eaed  pointed 
to  both  the  iron  and  the  flannel,  undoubling  it  as  he  did 
so,  they  all  cried  "Tyma!"  and  one  of  them  (the  owner 
of  the  kayak,  as  it  proved)  came  forward  to  take  the 
things.  Raed  gave  them  to  him.  A  line  with  a  slip- 
noose  was  then  dropped  over  the  nose  of  the  kayak,  and 
it  was  pulled  on  board. 

In  plan  it  was  much  like  our  cedar."  shells  "  used  at 
regattas,  —  a  narrow  skiff  about  twenty-three  feet  in 
length  by  eighteen  inches  in  width.  At  the  centre  there 
was  a  small  round  hole  just  large  enough  for  one  to  sit 
with  his  legs  under  the  seal-skin  deck,  which  was  bound 
tightly  to  a  hoop  encircling  the  hole.  Indeed,  the  whole 
outside  of  this  singular  craft  was  of  seal-skins,  sewed 
together  and  drawn  tight  as  a  drum-head  over  a  frame 
composed  mainly  of  the  rib-bdnes  of  the  walrus.  The 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  97 

double-bladed  paddle  was  tied  to  the  kayak  with  a 
long  thong ;  as  was  also  a  harpoon,  made  of  bones  laid 
together,  and  wound  over  with  a  long  thong  of  green 
seal-skin.  The  lance-blade  at  the  point  was  of  very 
white,  fine  ivory ;  probably  that  of  the  walrus.  Attached 
to  the  harpoon  was  a  very  long  coil  of  line,  made  also  of 
braided  seal-skin,  and  wound  about  a  short,  upright  peg 
behind  the  hoop.  We  supposed  that  the  paddle  and 
the  harpoon  went  with  the  kayak.  But  the  owner  did 
not  see  it  in  that  light.  As  soon  as  it  had  been  hauled 
on  deck,  he  proceeded  to  untie  the  thongs,  much  to  the 
amusement  of  the  captain.  As  \ve  wished  these  articles 
to  go  together,  nothing  remained  but  to  drive  a  new 
bargain  for  them.  Raed,  therefore,  took  one  of  our 
large  jack-knives  from  his  pocket,  and,  opening  it,  pointed 
to  the  paddle,  and  again  said  chynio. 

They  all  neyga-mai-ed,  giving  us  to  understand  that 
it  wouldn't  be  a  fair  trade ;  in  other  words,  that  they 
couldnrt  afford  it :  and  the  owner  of  the  paddle  kept  re- 
peating the  work  karrack  deprecatingly. 

"  What  in  the  world  does  karrack  mean  ?  "  Rainl 
asked,  turning  to  us. 

Nobody  knew. 

"  Karrack  ?  "  queried  he. 

"  Karrack,  karrack  !  "  was  the  reply. 

"  Karrack,  karrack,  karrack  !  "  they  all  cried,  point- 
ing to  the'paddle  and  also  to  the  bulwarks. 

"  They  mean  wood  !  "  exclaimed  the  captain.  "  Cor 
hss,  bring  up  two  or  three  of  those  four-foot  sticks  such 
as  we  are  using  for  firewood." 

It  was  brought,  and  thrown  down  on  deck. 


98  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

" Karrack,  karrack  r"  they  all  exclaimed  arid  fell  tc 
laughing  in  a  most  extraordinary  way,  mak..ng  a  noise 
which  seemed  to  come  from  low  down  in  their  stomachs, 
and  resembled  the  syllables  heh-heh,  or  yeh-yeli,  over 
and  over  and  over.  Raed  pointed  to  the  three  sticks 
of  wood,  and  then  to  the  paddle,  with  another  "  chymo." 
That  was  tyma ;  for  they  all  nodded  and  heh-heh-ed 
again. 

"  A  trade,"  said  the  captain.  "  Now  for  the  narpoon 
and  line." 

These  we  got  for  a  bar  of  iron  and  another  stick  of 
wood.  It  at  first  seemed  rather  singular  that  they  should 
prize  a  stick  of  ordinary  split  wood  so  highly  ;  but  it  was 
easily  accounted  for  when  we  came  to  reflect  that  this  vast 
region  is  destitute  of  trees  of  any  size.  Wood  was  almost 
as  eagerly  sought  for  as  iron.  I  have"  no  doubt  that  a 
very  profitable  trade  might  be  made  with  a  cargo  of 
wood  along  these  straits,  exchanged  for  walrus-ivory, 
bear-skins,  and  seal-skins. 

They  wore  a  sort  of  jacket,  or  round  frock,  of  bear- 
skin, with  a  cap,  or  hood,  fastened  to  the  collar  like  the 
hood  of  a  water-proof.  It  was  tied  with  thongs  in  front, 
and  came  down  to  the  thigh.  Kit  bought  one  of  these 
for  a  jack-knife,  — for  a  curiosity,  of  course.  Wade  also 
purchased  a  pair  of  seal-skin  moccasons,  with  legs  to  the 
knee,  for  a  butcher-knife ;  which  gave  us  a  chance  to  ob- 
serve that  the  owner  wore  socks  of  dog-skin,  with  the 
hair  in.  A  pair  of  these  were  chymoed  from  another 
man  for  a  stick  of  wood. 

Beneath  their  bear-skin  frocks  they  wore  a  shirt  of 
some  thin  skin,  which  the  captain  pronounced  to  be 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  99 

bladder-skin.  —  of  bears,  perhaps.  I  got  one  of  these 
shirts  for  a  jack-knife.  Wishing  to  have  an  entire  out- 
fit, we  bought  a  pair  of  breeches  of  the  man  of  whom 
we  had  already  purchased  the  boots,  for  a  dozen  spike- 
nails.  These  were  of  fox-skin,  apparently,  with  the 
hair  worn  next  the  skin.  I  noticed  that  one  man  wore 
a  small  white  bone  or  ivory  trinket,  seemingly  carved 
to  represent  a  child.  Pointing  to  it,  I  held  out  a  butch- 
er-knife, —  a  good  bargain,  I  fancied.  Somewhat  to  my 
surprise,  he  negga-mai-ed  with  a  very  grave  shake  of 
his  head.  Two  or  three  others  who  saw  it  shook  their 
heads  too.  Wishing  to  test  him,  I  brought  up  a  bar  of 
iron,  and  made  another  tender  of  both  knife  and  iron. 
But  he  shook  his  head  still  more  decidedly,  and  turned 
away  as  if  to  put  a  stop  to  further  bantering  on  the  sub- 
ject. We  were  at  a  loss  to  know  whether  it  was  a 
souvenir,  —  the  image  of  some  dead  child,  or  an  object 
of  religious  reverence.  Finally  the  captain  pointed 
across  the  ice-field,  where  the  bear  was  sitting  crouched 
on  the  margin  of  it,  and  said,  " Nen-ook"  At  that  they 
all  looked,  and,  espying  him,  gave  vent  to  a  series  of 
cries  and  shouts.  Six  of  them  immediately  dropped  into 
their  kayaks  and  set  off  after  him.  Reaching  the  ice, 
hey  landed,  and  pulled  the  canoes  on  to  it.  Then,  taking 
their  harpoons,  they  divided  into  three  parties  of  two 
each.  One  of  these  went  straight  across  toward  the 
bear ;  the  second  followed  round  the  edge  of  the  field  to 
the  right,  the  third  to  the  left.  The  bear  must  have 
been  pretty  severely  wounded  by  our  six-ounce  bullet,  I 
think;  for  he  paid  no  attention  to  their  approach  til) 


100  LEFT  ON   LABRADOR.  ' 

they  were  within  four  or  five  rods,  when  he  made  a  fee- 
ble attempt  to  get  past  them.  They  rushed  up  to  him 
without  the  slightest  hesitation,  and  despatched  him  in 
a  twinkling. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Husky  Belles.  —  We-ioe  and  Caubvick.  —  "Abb,"  she  said.  —  All 
Promenade.  —  Candy  at  a  Discount.  —  "Pillitay,  pillitay!"—  Old  Trull 
and  the  Husky  Matron.  —  Gorgeous  Gifts.  —  Adieu  to  the  Arctic 
Beauties.  x 

NONE  of  their  women  had  come  off  with  them ;  and, 
while  the  party  that  had  gone  after  the  bear  were 
busy  skinning  it,  Raed  brought  up  a  roll  of  flannel,  with 
half  a  dozen  knives,  and,  holding  them  up,  pointed  off  to 
the  mainland,  and  said,  "  Henne-lay."  Whereupon  they 
fell  to  heh-heh-ing  afresh,  with  cries  of  "Igloo,  igloo!'' 
Kit  pointed  to  our  boat,  hanging  from  the  davits  at  the 
stern,  and  then  off  to  the  shore,  to  inquire  whether  we 
should  send  it  for  them  ;  but  they  shook  their  heads,  and 
uried,  "  Oomiak,  oomiakf" 

"  Do  they  mean  for  us  to  take  the  schooner  up  there  ?  " 
asked  the  captain 

Kaed  pointed  to  the  deck,  and  then  off  to  the  shore,  in- 
quiringly. No,  that  was  not  it ;  though  they  still  cried 
"  Oomiak  !  "  pointing  off  to  the  shore. 

"  Oomiak  is  a  boat  of  their  own,  I  guess,"  said  Kit ; 
"  different  from  the  kayak.  They  called  '  The  Curlew ' 
oomiak-sook,  you  know." 

101 


102  LEFT  ON   LABRADOR. 

"Tell  them  to  bring  some  of  their  children  along  too," 
said  Wade. 

"Well,  what's  the  word  for  child?"  Eaed  inquired. 

We  none  of  us  knew. 

" Try pappoose"  suggested  the  captain. 

" Pappoose"  said  Kaed,  pronouncing  it  distinctly,  and 
pointing  off  as  before.  " Henne-lay — pappoose" 

But  they  only  looked  blank.  Pappoose  was  evidently 
a  new  word  for  them.  We  then  resorted  to  various  ex- 
pedients, such  as  holding  our  hands  knee-high  and  hip- 
high  ;  but  the  requisite  gleim  of  intelligence  could  not  be 
inspired.  So,  with  another  repetition  of  the  word  henne- 
lay,  we  started  off  a  delegation  of  eight  or  nine  after  the 
female  portion  of  the  settlement. 

While  they  were  gone,  the  six  who  had  gone  to  slaugh- 
ter the  bear  came  back,  bringing  the  hide  and  a  consid- 
erable quantity  of  the  meat.  Bits  were  distributed 
among  the  crowd,  and  eaten  raw  and  reeking  as  if  a  deli- 
cacy. We  chymoed  the  bear-skin  from  them  for  a  bar  of 
iron. 

In  about  an  hour  a  great  ta-yar-r-r-ing  from  the 
shoreward  bespoke  the  embarkation  of  the  ladies;  and, 
with  our  glasses,  we  could  make  out  a  large  boat  coming 
off,  surrounded  by  kayaJts. 

"  That's  the  oomiak"  said  Kit.  "  Looks  like  quite  a 
barge." 

"Dor.'t  lose  your  hearts  now,"  laughed  the  captain. 
"  Should  hate  to  have  an  elopement  from  my  ship 
here." 

"  1  think  Wade  is  in  the  most  dr.nger,"  said  Raed. 
"  He's  very  susceptible  to  Northern  beauties.  We  must 
l<ave  an  eyo  to  him." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  103 

"  Beware,  Wade !  "  cried  Kit.  "  Don't  be  led  astray ! 
Steel  your  heart  against  the  seductive  charms  of  these 
Husky  belles  !  Remember  how  the  hopes  of  your  family 
are  centred !  What  would  your  mother  say  ?  Your 
father  would  be  sure  to  disinherit  you !  How  would 
your  sisters  bear  it  ?  " 

"Hold  on,  fellows !"  exclaimed  Wade.  "This  isn't 
quite  fair,  nor  honorable,  —  making  fun  of  ladies  behind 
their  backs." 

"  Right,  sir ! "  cried  Raed.  "  Spoken  like  a  true  son 
of  the  South  !  Ah  !  you  did  always  outrank  us  in  gal- 
lantry. No  discount  on  it.  Had  your  heads  been  as 
true  as  your  hearts,  the  result  might  have  been  different. 
But  here  come  the  ladies.  We  must  do  our  prettiest  to 
please  'em,  or  we  are  no  true  knights.  By  the  by,  we 
resemble  the  wandering  knight-er rants  not  a  little,  I 
fear." 

"  Only  their  object  was  adventure,  while  ours  is  sci- 
ence," added  Kit. 

"Scientific  knights!"  laughed  Wade.  "Well,  the 
world  moves ! " 

The  oomiak  was  now  within  fifty  yards. 

"  Let's  give  'em  a  salute ! "  exclaimed  Kit.  "  Roll  the 
ball  out  of  the  howitzer  !  " 

"  Oh  !  I  wouldn't ;  it  may  scare  'em,"  said  Raed. 

"No,  it  won't.     Where's  a  match  ?  " 

Bang  went  old  brassy  out  of  the  stern. 

It  did  startle  them,  I  fancy.  Something  very  much 
like  a  feminine  screech  rose  in  the  oomiak.  It  was 
quickly  hushed  up,  though,  with  no  fainting,  but  any 
quantity  of  heh-heh-iny  and  yeh-yeh-ing  from  the  fat 
beauties. 


[04  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

l<  Now  give  'em  two  more  from  the  muskets  — two  at 
a  time  —  when  they  come  under  the  side ! "  shouted  Kit. 
"  Hobbs,  you  and  Don  first !  Ready !  —  fire ! " 

Crack,  crack  ! 

"  !&ow  Weymouth  and  Corliss  ! " 

Crack,  crack ! 

"  There !  I  now  consider  their  arrival  properly  cele- 
brated. And  here  they  are  under  the  bows  !  Pipe  the 
side  for  the  ladies,  captain  ! " 

"  Bless  me !  "  exclaimed  Raed ;  "  how  are  we  to  get  'em 
aboard  ?  Can't  climb  a  line,  I  don't  expect." 

"  Wouldn't  do  to  give  'em  the  ratlines ! "  exclaimed 
Kit;  "might  entangle  their  pretty  feet.  What's  to  be 
done,  captain  ?  " 

"I  —  give — it — up ! " groaned  Capt.  Mazard.  " Hold ! 
I  have  it :  the  old  companion-stairs,  —  the  ones  we  had 
taken  out.  They  are  stowed  away  down  in  the  hold." 

"  Just  the  thing ! "  cried  Raed ;  "  the  very  essence  of 
gallantry ! " 

"Corliss,  Bonney,  and  Hobbs,"  shouted  the  captain, 
"  bear  a  hand  at  those  old  stairs,  —  quick  !  Don't  keep 
ladies  waiting ! " 

The  old  stairs  were  hurried  up,  and  let  down  from  the 
side.  The  captain  stood  ready  with  a  stout  line,  which 
he  whipped  around  the  top  rung,  and  then  made  fast  to 
the  bulwarks.  '-'That'll  hold  'em,"  said  he. 

The  oomiak  was  then  brought  up  close,  and  the  foot  of 
the  stairs  set  inside  the  gunwale.  The  oomiak  was  about 
twenty-seven  feet  in  length  by  six  in  width.  Like  the 
kayaks,  it  was  covered  with  seal-skin  ;  or  perhaps  it 
might  have  been  the  hide  of  the  walrus.  The  framework 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  105 

tvas  composed  of  both  bone  and  wood  tied  and  lasbed 
together.  This  was  the  women's  boat,  and  was  rowed 
by  them.  The  only  man  in  it  was  a  hideous,  wrinkled 
old  savage,  who  sat  in  the  stern  to  steer. 

"  Two,  four,  six,  eight,  ten,  twelve,  and  an  odd  one," 
counted  K-aed.  "  Invite  'em  up,  captain/'' 

Capt.  Mazard  got  up  on  the  bulwarks  with  a  line  in 
his  hand,  and,  holding  it  down  over  the  stairs,  began  to 
bow  and  make  signs  to  them  to  come  up.  Perhaps  they 
had  not  intended  to  actually  come  on  board ;  or  perhaps, 
like  their  fairer  sisters  in  other  lands,  they  wanted  to  bo 
coaxed  a  little.  At  first  they  discreetly  hesitated,  glan- 
cing alternately  up  at  us,  then  round  to  their  swarthy 
countrymen  in  the  kayaks.  The  most  of  them  were 
seemingly  young.  There  was  but  one  really  ugly  face  ; 
while  four  or  five  were  evidently  under  fifteen.  The 
women  were  not  quite  so  swarthy  and  dark  as  the  men, 
and  wore  their  hair  longer.  Several  of  them  had  it 
pugged  up  behind.  The  captain  and  Haed  now  redoubled 
their  gestures  of  invitation.  The  Esquimau  men  on 
board  also  began  to  jabber  to  them  ;  at  which,  first  two, 
then  another,  and  another,  stood  up,  and  with  broad  smiles 
essayed  to  mount  the  stairs.  Kit  was  standing  close  to 
me. 

"  Xow,  which  are  the  prettiest  ones  ?  "  he  whispered. 
"  Which  are  the  belles  ?  Let's  you  and  I  secure  the  belles 
a\ray  from  Raed  and  Wade.  Those  two  back  in  the 
stern  next  to  old  ghoul-face  —  how  do  those  strike  you? 
Aren't  those  the  beauties  ?  They've  got  on  the  prettiest 
fur,  anyway.  Only  look  at  those  white  gloves  ! " 

The  two  Kit  had  pointed  out  were,  us  well  as  we  could 
judge,  the  fairest  of  the  bevy. 


106  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

"I  believe  Wade's  got  his  eye  on  one  of  them ! "  mut- 
tered Kit.  "  We'll  oust  him,  though.  Crowd  along  sharp 
when  those  two  come  up.  Elbow  Wade  out  of  the  way. 
I'll  push  against  you,  and  we'll  squeeze  him  up  against 
the  rail." 

The  others  followed  the  first  two,  corning  up  the  steps, 
lalcing  the  captain's  hand,  and  jumping  off  the  rail  to 
the  deck.  Our  two  came  last. 

"Now's  our  time!"  exclaimed  Kit;  and,  making  a 
bold  push,  we  got  in  ahead  of  the  unsuspecting  Wade, 
who  immediately  saw  the  sell,  and  turned  away  in  great 
disgust. 

"  I'll  pay  you  for  that ! "  muttered  he. 

But,  having  got  face  to  face  with  the  fur-clad  damsels, 
we  were  not  a  little  perplexed  how  to  make  their  acquaint- 
ance ;  for  they  were  staring  at  us  with  their  small  black 
eyes  very  round  and  wondering. 

"  Try  a  great  long  smile,"  said  Kit. 

We  smiled  very  hard  and  persistently  for  some  sec- 
onds. It  seemed  to  mollify  their  wonder  somewhat. 

"  Keep  it  up,"  Kit  advised  :  </  that'll  bring  'em." 

We  kept  it  up,  smiling  and  bowing  and  nodding  as 
gayly  as  we  could ;  and  were  presently  rewarded  by  see- 
ing faint  reflections  of  our  grins  on  their  dusky  faces, 
which  rapidly  deepened  into  as  broad  a  smile  as  I  ever 
beheld.  They  had  very  tolerably  wide  mouths,  with 
large  white  teeth.  Having  got  up  a  smile,  we  next  es- 
sayed to  shake  hands  with  them  according  to  good  old 
New-England  custom.  Their  white  gloves  were  of  some 
sort  of  bird-skin,  I  think,  and  fitted  —  well,  I've  seen  kid 
gloves  worn  that  didn't  fit  a  whit  better.  How  to  com- 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  107 

tnence  a  conversation  was  not  so  easy ;  since  we  knew 
not  more  than  a  dozen  words  of  their  language,  and 
could  not  frame  these  into  sentences.  So  we  began  by 
making  them  each  a  present  of  a  jack-knife.  These  wera 
accepted  with  a  great  deal  of  broad  smiling.  Kit  then 
showed  them  how  to  open  the  knives.  At  that  one  of 
the  girls  reached  down  to  her  boot ;  and,  thrusting  her 
hand  into  the  leg  of  it  (for  their  boots  had  remarkably 
large  legs,  coming  up  to  the  knee,  and  even  higher),  she 
fished  out  a  little  bone  implement  about  four  inches  long, 
and  resembling  a  harpoon.  Near  the  centre  of  it  was  a 
tiny  hole,  in  which  there  was  knotted  a  bit  of  fine  leath- 
ern string.  It  was  plain  that  she  meant  to  give  it  to 
one  or  the  other  of  us.  Kit  held  out  his  hand  for  it  with 
»  bow. 

"  Kina  ?  "  he  asked,  taking  it.    ("  What  is  it  ?  ") 

" Tar-suk"  said  the  girl.  "  Tar-suk-apak-pee-o-mee- 
wanga;  "  which  was  plain,  to  be  sure. 

Meanwhile  the  other  was  industriously  fumbling  in 
her  boot,  and  pretty  quick  drew  out  a  bone  image  repre- 
senting a  fox,  as  I  have  always  supposed.  This  was 
for  me. 

11  Kina?"  I  asked. 

"  Bossuit,"  was  the  reply. 

This  was  also  pierced  with  a  hole  through  the  neck : 
and,  on  my  hooking  it  to  my  watch-guard,  the  other  girl 
fell  to  laughing  at  her  companion,  who  also  laughed  a  lie- 
tie  confusedly,  and  with  a  look,  which,  in  a  less  dusky 
maiden,  might  have  been  a  blush.  Just  what  impor- 
tance they  attach  to  these  trinkets  and  to  the  wearing  of 
them  we  couM  merely  guess  at 


]08  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  I  wonder  what  their  names  are,"  said  Kit.  "  How 
can  we  find  out  ?  Would  they  understand  by  our  using 
the  word  kina,  do  you  suppose  ?  " 

"  Try  it." 

Kit  then  pointed  to  the  one  who  was  talking  with  ine, 
and  said  "  Kina  "  to  the  other.  She  did  not  seem  to 
understand  at  first :  but,  on  a  repetition  of  the  question, 
replied, "  We-we- "  at  which  her  companion  looked  sudden- 
ly around.  Then  they  talked  with  each  other  a  moment. 
We-we,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  meant  white  goose.  I 
then  put  the  same  question  to  We-we,  pointing  to  the 
other. 

"  Caubvick"  she  replied. 

Just  then  Wade  passed  us  ;  and,  lo !  he  had  a  white- 
gloved  damsel  on  his  arm,  promenading  along  the  deck 
as  big  as  life. 

"What's  her  name?"  cried  Kit. 

"  JTkewna,"  he  replied  over  his  shoulder. 

How  he  had  found  out  he  would  never  tell  us ;  per- 
haps in  the  same  manner  we  had  done. 

"I  declare,  Wade's  outdoing  us!"  exclaimed  Kit. 
"But  we  can  promenade  too." 

I  then  pointed  to  Wade  and  Jkewna,  and  then  to  We- 
we  and  myself,  offering  my  arm. 

"Abb"  she  said ;  and  we  started  off. 

Kit  and  Caubvick  followed.  After  all,  walking  with 
an  Esquimau  belle  is  not  so  very  different  from  walking 
with  a  Yankee  girl :  only  I  fancy  it  must  have  looked  a 
little  odd;  for,  as  I  have  already  stated,  they  wore  long- 
legged  boots  with  very  broad  tops  coming  above  the 
knee,  silver-furred  seal-skin  breeches,  and  a  jacket  of 


1  ABB,"  SHK  SAID. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  109 

white  hare-skin  (the  polar  hare)  edged  with  the  down 
of  the  eider-duck.  These  jackets  had  at  least  one  very 
peculiar  feature  :  that  was  nothing  less  than  a  tail  about 
four  inches  broad,  and  reaching  within  a  foot  of  the 
ground.  I  have  no  doubt  they  were  in  style:  still  they 
did  look  a  little  singular,  to  say  the  least. 

Meanwhile  the  others  were  not  idle  spectators,  judg- 
ing from  the  loud  talking,  yeh-yeh-ing,  and*unintelligibla 
lingo,  that  resounded  all  about.  We  saw  Raed  paying 
the  most  polite  attentions  to  a  very  chubby,  fat  girl  with 
a  black  fur  jacket  and  yellow  gloves. 

"What  name?"  demanded  Kit  as  we  promenaded 
past. 

"  Pussay"  replied  Raed,  trying  to  look  very  sober. 

The  word  jjussay  means  a  seal ;  and  in  this  case  the 
name  was  not  much  misplaced.  We-we  (white  goose) 
was,  to  my  eye,  decidedly  the  prettiest  of  the  lot ;  Caub- 
vick  came  next ;  and,  as  we  promenaded  past  Wade,  we 
kept  boasting  of  their  superior  charms  as  compared  with 
Ikeivna.  Our  two  both  wore  white  jackets ;  while 
Wade's  wore  a  yellow  one,  of  fox-skin. 

"  How  about  refreshments ! "  cried  Wade  at  length. 
"We  ought  to  treat  them  ;  hadn't  we?" 

"  That's  so,"  said  Raed.  "  Captain,  have  the  good- 
ness to  call  Palmleaf,  and  bid  him  bring  up  a  box  of  that 
candy." 

The  captain  came  along. 

"  Didn't  you  see  the  rumpus  ?  "  he  asked. 

"Rumpus?" 

"Yes;  when  Palmleaf  came  on  deck  just  after  the 
women  came  on  board.  They  were  afraid  of  him.  H« 


L10  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

came  poking  his  black  head  up  out  of  the  forecastle,  and 
rolling  his  eyes  about.  If  he  had  been  the  Devil  him- 
self, they  couldn't  have  acted  more  scared.  I  had  to 
send  him  below  out  of  sight,  or  there  would  have  been 
a  general  stampede.  The  men  are  afraid  of  him.  I 
don't  understand  exactly  why  they  should  be." 

None  of  us  did  at  the  time ;  but  we  learned  subse- 
quently that  the  Esquimaux  attribute  all  their  ill  luck 
to  a  certain  fiend,  or  demon,  in  the  form  of  a  huge  black 
man.  We  have,  therefore,  accounted  for  their  strange 
fear  and  aversion  to  the  negro  on  that  ground.  They 
thought  he  was  the  Devil,  —  their  devil.  So  Hobbs 
brought  up  the  candy.  Raed  passed  it  round,  giving 
each  of  our  visitors  two  sticks  apiece.  This  was  plainly 
a  new  sort  of  treat.  They  stood,  each  holding  the  candy 
in  their  hands,  as  if  uncertain  to  what  use  it  was  to  be 
put.  Raed  then  set  them  an  example  by  biting  off  a 
chunk.  At  that  they  each  took  a  bite.  We  expected 
they  would  be  delighted.  It  was  therefore  with  no  lit- 
tle chagrin  that  we  beheld  our  guests  making  up  the 
worst  possible  faces,  and  spitting  it  out  anywhere, 
everywhere,  —  on  deck,  against  the  bulwarks,  overboard, 
just  as  it  happened.  The  most  of  them  immediately 
threw  away  the  candy;  though  We-we  and  Caubvick, 
out  of  consideration  for  our  feelings  perhaps,  quietly 
tucked  theirs  into  their  boot-legs.  There  was  an  awk- 
ward pause  in  the  hospitalities.  Clearly,  candy  wouldn't 
pass  for  a  delicacy  with  them. 

« Try  'em  with  cold  boiled  beef ! "  exclaimed  the 
captain. 

Luckily,  as  it  occurred,  Palmleaf  had  lately  boiled  xip 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  Ill 

quite  a  quantity.  It  was  cut  up  in  small  pieces,  and 
distributed  among  them;  and,  at  the  captain's  sugges- 
tion, raw  fat  pork  was  given  the  men.  This  latter,  how- 
ever, was  much  too  salt  for  them  :  so  that,  on  the  whole, 
our  refreshments  were  a  failure.  It  is  doubtful  if  they 
liked  the  cooked  meat  half  so  well  as  they  did  the  raw, 
roekii  g  flesh  of  the  bear. 

By  way  of  making  up  for  the  candy  failure,  we  ga\  e 
them  each  two  common  tenpenny  nails,  and  two  sticks 
of  hard-wood  the  size  we  burned  in  the  stove.  With 
these  presents  they  seemed  very  well  pleased,  particu- 
larly with  the  wood.  But,  on  finding  we  were  disposed 
to  give,  the  most  of  them  were  not  at  all  modest  about 
asking  for  more.  A  general  cry  of  "Pillitay"  ("Give 
me  something  ")  arose.  We  gave  them  another  stick  of 
wood  all  round ;  at  which  their  cries  were  redoubled. 
In  short,  they  treated  us  very  much  as  some  earnest 
Christians  do  the  Lord,  —  asked  for  every  thing  they 
could  think  of.  Old  Trull  was  especially  pestered  by 
one  woman,  who  stuck  to  him  with  a  continuous  whine 
of  "Pillitay,  pillitay!"  He  had  already  given  her 
his  jack-knife,  and  now  borrowed  it  to  cut  off  several  of 
the  brass  buttons  on  his  jacket.  But  so  far  was  she 
from  being  satisfied  with  this  sacrifice,  that  she  instantly 
began  pillayting  for  the  rest  of  them.  The  old  man 
thought  that  this  was  carrying  the  thing  a  little  too  fai\ 

"  Ye  old  jade  ! "  he  exclaimed,  out  of  all  patience. 
"  Ye'd  beg  me  stark  naked,  I  du  believe  !  " 

But  still  the  woman  with  outstretched  hand  cried 
"Pillitay!"  Finally  the  old  chap  in  pure  desperation 
caught  out  his  tobacco  to  take  a  chew.  Eying  her  a 


112  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

moment,  he  bit  it  off,  and  put  the  rest  in  her  hand  with 
a  grim  smile.  The  woman,  following  his  example,  forth- 
with bit  off  a  piece,  and  chewed  at  it  for  a  few  seconds, 
swallowing  the  saliva ;  then  turned  away  sick  and  vomit- 
ing. She  didn't  pillitay  him  any  more. 

To  the  honor  of  maidenhood,  I  may  add  that  We-wc, 
Caubvick,  Ikewna,  and  Pussay  were  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule  of  beggary.  They  asked  us  for  nothing. 
Something  seemed  to  restrain  them  :  perhaps  the  atten- 
tions we  had  shown  them.  Be  that  as  it  may,  they 
fared  the  better  for  it.  Wade  led  off  by  giving  Ucewna 
a  broad,  highly-colored  worsted  scarf,  which  he  wrapped 
in  folds  about  her  fox-jacket,  covering  it  entirely,  and 
giving  her  a  very  distingue  look.  Not  to  be  behind, 
Kit  and  I  gave  to  We-we  and  Caulvick  three  yards  of 
bright-red  flannel  apiece ;  also  a  red-and-black  silk  hand- 
kerchief each  to  wear  over  their  shoulders,  and  two 
massive  (pinchbeck)  breast-pins.  These  latter  articles 
did  make  their  little  piercing  black  eyes  sparkle  amaz- 
ingly- 

How  long  they  would  have  staid  on  board,  Heaven 
only  knows,  — all  summer,  perhaps,  —  had  not  the  captain 
given  orders  to  have  the  schooner  brought  round.  The 
moment  the  vessel  began  to  move,  they  were  seized  with 
a  panic,  lest  they  should  be  carried  off  from  home.  The 
men  were  over  into  their  kayaks  instantly.  Having 
got  rid  of  them,  "  The  Curlew  "  was  again  hove  to,  while 
the  oomiak  was  brought  under  the  stairs.  We  bade  a 
hasty  farewell  to  the  Husky  belles,  and  handed  them  into 
their  barge.  On  the  whole,  we  were  not  much  sorry  to 
be  rid  of  them  ;  for  though  they  were  human  being?, 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  113 

and  some  of  the  young  girls  not  without  their  attrac- 
tions, yet  it  was  humanity  in  a  very  crude,  raw  state. 
In  a  word,  they  were  savages,  destitute  to  a  lamentable 
extent  of  all  those  finer  feelings  and  sentiments  which 
characterize  a -civilized  race.  The  roughest  of  our  Gloii- 
cester  lads  were  immeasurably  in  advance  of  them  ;  ar-J 
Palmleaf,  but  recently  a  lash-fearing  slave,  seemed  of  a 
higher  order  of  beings. 

They  were  gone ;  but  they  had  left  an  odor  behind. 
We  had  to  keep  Palmleaf  burning  coffee  on  a  shovel  all 
the  rest  of  the  'evening ;  and,  for  more  than  a  month 
after,  we  could  smell  it  at  times,  —  a  "  sweet  souvenir 
of  our  Husky  beauties,"  as  Wade  used  to  put  it. 

There  is  something  at  once  hopeless  and  pitiful  about 
this  people.  There  is  no  possibility  of  permanently 
bettering  their  condition.  Born  and  living  under  a 
climate,  which,  from  the  gradual  shifting  of  the  pole, 
must  every  year  grow  more  and  more  severe,  they 
can  but  sink  lower  and  lower  as  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence grows  sharper.  There  is  no  hope  for  them.  Their 
absurd  love  of  home  precludes  the  possibility  of  their 
emigrating  to  a  warmer  latitude.  Pitiful !  because, 
wherever  the  human  life-spark  is  enkindled,  his  must 
be  a  hard  heart  that  can  see  it  suffering,  dying,  without 
pity. 


CHAPTEE   VIII. 


Die  Husky  Chief.  —  Palmleaf  Indignant.  —  A  Gun. —  Sudden  Apparition 
of  the  Company's  Ship.  —  We  hold  a  Hasty  Council.  —  In  the  Jaws  of 
the  British  Lion.  —  An  Armed  Boat.  —  Repel  Boarders  I  —  Red- Face 
waxes  wrathful.  —  Fired  on,  but  no  Bone?  broken. 


BY  the  time  we  had  fairly  parted  from  our  Esqui- 
mau friends  it  was  near  eleven  o'clock,  P.M.,  — 
after  sunset.  Instead  of  standing  out  into  the  straits, 
we  beat  up  for  about  a  mile  along  the  ice-field,  and 
anchored  in  thirteen  fathoms,  at  about  a  cable's  length 
from  the  island,  to  the  east  of  the  ice-island.  The 
weather  had  held  fine.  The  roadstead  between  the 
island  and  the  main  wa<>  not  at  present  much  choked 
with  ice.  It  was  safe,  to  all  appearance.  We  wanted 
rest.  Turning  out  at  three  and  half-past  three  in  the 
morning,  and  not  getting  to  bunk  till  eleven  and  twelve, 
made  an  unconscionable  long  day.  Once  asleep,  I  don't 
thir.k  one  of  us  boys  waked  or  turned  over  till  the  cap- 
tain stirred  us  up  to  breakfast. 

"  Six  o'clock,  boys  ! "  cried  he.  "  Sun's  been  up  these 
four  hours ! " 

"  Don't  talk  about  the  sun  in  this  latitude,"  yawned 
Raed.  "  I  can  sit  up  with  him  at  Boston ;  but  he's  too 
much  for  me  here." 

114 


LEFT   OJ  LABRADOR.  115 

While  we  were  at  breakfast,  Weymouth  came  down  to 
report  a  k\j,yak  coming  off. 

"  Shall  we  let  him  c  jme  aboard,  sir  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes ! "  said  tlie  captain. 

"  Let's  have  him  down  to  breakfast  with  us  for  the 
nonce ! "  cried  Kit.  "  Here,  Palmleaf,  set  an  extra  plate, 
and  bring  another  cup  of  coffee." 

"  And  see  that  you  keep  out  of  sight,"  laughed  the 
captain:  "the  Huskies  don't  much  like  the  looks  of 
you." 

"  I  tink  I'se  look  as  well  as  dey  do,  sar ! "  exclaimed 
the  indignant  cook. 

"  So  do  I,  Palmleaf,"  said  Baed ;  "  but  then  opinions 
differ,  you  know.  These  Esquimaux  are  nothing  but 
savages." 

"Dey're  berry  ill-mannered  fellars,  sar,  to  make  do 
best  of  dem.  I  wouldn't  hev  'em  roun',  sar,  stinkin'  up 
de  ship." 

"  I  don't  see  that  they  smell  much  worse  than  a  pack 
of  niggers,"  remarked  Wade  provokingly ;  at  which  the 
darky  went  back  to  the  galley  muttering. 

"  Wade,  some  of  these  big  negroes  will  pop  you  over 
ont  of  these  days,"  said  Kit. 

"  Well,  I  expect  it ;  and  who'll  be  to  blame  for  that  ? 
We  had  them  under  good  control :  you  marched  your 
hired  Canadians  down  among  us,  and  set  them  "  free," 
as  you  say ;  which  means  that  you've  turned  loose  a  class 
of  beings  in  no  way  fit  to  be  free.  The  idea  of  letting 
those  ignorant  niggers  vote!  —  why,  they  are  no  more 
tit  to  have  a  voice  in  the  making  of  the  laws  than  so 
many  hogs !  You  have  done  us  a  great  wrong  in  setting 


HO  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

them  free :  you've  turned  loose  among  us  a  horde  of  the 
most  indolent,  insolent,  lustful  beasts  that  ever  made  a 
hell  of  earth.  You  can't  look  for  social  harmony  at  the 
South !  Why,  we  are  obliged  to  go  armed  to  protect 
our  lives  !  No  lady  is  safe  to  walk  half  a  mile  unat- 
tended. I  state  a  fact  when  I  say  that  my  mother  and 
my  sisters  do  not  dare  to  walk  about  our  plantation 
even,  for  fear  of  those  brutish  negroes." 

"I  think  you  take  a  rather  one-sided  view,  Wade," 
said  Raed. 

"  It's  the  only  side  I  can  see." 

"  Perhaps  ;  but  there  is  another  side,  nevertheless." 

Here  a  tramping  on  the  stairs  was  heard,  and  Wey- 
mouth  came  down,  followed  by  a  large  Esquimau. 

"  He's  been  trying  to  make  out  to  us  that  he's  the 
chief,  boss,  sachem,  or  whatever  they  call  it,  of  the  crowd 
that  was  aboard  yesterday,"  said  Weymouth. 

"  What  does  he  want  ?  "  the  captain  asked. 

"  Wants  to  chymo." 

Kaed  made  signs  for  him  to  sit  down  in  the  chair  at 
the  table  and  eat  with  us  ;  which,  after  some  hesitation, 
he  did  rather  awkwardly,  and  with  a  great  knocking  of 
his  feet  against  the  chairs.  He  had  on  a  gorgeous  bear- 
skin jacket,  with  the  hood  drawn  over  his  head  His 
face  was  large ;  his  nose  small,  and  nearly  lost  between  the 
fat  billows  of  his  cheeks  ;  his  eyes  were  much  drawn  up 
at  the  corners,  and  very  far  apart ;  and  his  mouth,  a  very 
wide  one,  was  fringed  about  with  stiff,  straggling  black 
bristles.  The  cast  of  his  countenance  was  decidedly  repul- 
sive. Kit  made  signs  for  bin-  to  drink  his  coffee ;  but  ho 
merely  eyed  it  suspiciously.  I  then  helped  him  to  a 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  117 

heavy  spoonful  of  mashed  potatoes.  He  looked  at  it 
a  while ;  then,  seeing  us  eating  of  it,  plunged  in  his  fin- 
gers, and,  taking  up  a  wad,  thrust  it  into  his  mouth,  but 
immediately  spat  it  out,  with  a  broad  laugh,  all  over  his 
plate  and  over  the  other  dishes,  and  kept  spitting  at 
random. 

"De  nasty  dog!"  ejaculated  Palmleaf,  rushing  for- 
ward from  the  galley :  "  spit  all  ober  de  clean  plates  !  " 

The  savage  turned  his  eye  upon  the  black,  and,  with 
a  horrible  shout,  sprang  up  from  his  chair,  nearly  upset- 
ting the  table-shelf,  and  made  a  bolt  for  the  stairway. 
We. called  to  him,  and  followed  as  quickly  as  we  could: 
but,  before  we  were  fairly  on  deck,  he  was  over  into  his 
kayak,  plying  his  paddle  as  if  for  dear  life;  and  the 
more  we  called,  the  faster  he  dug  to  it. 

Suddenly,  as  we  were  looking  after  him  and  laughing, 
the  heavy  report  of  cannon  sounded  from  the  southward. 
Looking  around,  we  saw  a  large  ship  coming  to  below 
the  islands,  at  a  distance  of  about  three  miles.  A  thrill 
of  apprehension  stole  over  us.  Without  a  word,  we  went 
for  our  glasses.  It  was  a  large,  stanch-looking  ship,  well 
manned,  from  the  appearance  of  her  deck.  As  we  were 
looking,  the  English  flag  went  up.  We  had  expected 
as  much. 

"  It's  one  of  the  Hudson-bay  Company's  ships,"  re- 
marked Kaed. 

"  Of  course,"  said  Kit. 

"  Not  likely  to  be  any  thing  else,"  said  the  captain. 

"  I  suppose  you're  aware  that  those  fellows  may  take 
a  notion  to  have  us  accompany  them  to  London,"  re- 
marked Raed. 


118  LKFT   ON  LABRAPOU. 

"If  they  can  catch  us,"  Kit  added. 

Persons  caught  trading  with  the  natives  within  the 
limits  of  the  Hudson-bay  Company's  chartered  territory 
aie  liable  to  be  seized,  and  carried  to  London  for  trial," 
continued  Eaed.  "  It's  best  to  keep  that  point  well  in 
view.  Nobody  would  suppose  that,  in  this  age,  the  old 
beef-heads  would  have  the  cheek  to  try  to  enforce  such 
a  right  against  Americans,  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
who  ought  to  have  the  inside  track  of  every  thing  011 
this  continent.  Still  they  may." 

"  It  will  depend  somewhat  on  the  captain  of  the  vessel 
—  what  sort  of  a  man  he  is,"  said  Kit.  "  He  may  be 
one  of  the  high  and  mighty  sort,  full  of  overgrown 
notions  of  the  company's  authority." 

Another  jet  of  white  smoke  puffed  out  from  the  side 
of  the  ship,  followed  in  a  few  seconds  by  another  dull 
lany. 

11  We'll  stand  by  our  colors  in  any  case,"  remarked 
Capt.  Mazard,  attaching  our  flag  to  the  signal  halliards. 

Raed  and  Kit  ran  to  hoist  it.  Up  it  went  to  the  peak 
of  the  bright-yellow  mast, — the  bonny  bright  stars  and 
stripes. 

"  All  hands  weigh  anchor ! "  ordered  Capt.  Mazard. 

"  Load  the  howitzer ! "  cried  Kit.  "  Let's  answer  their 
gun  in  coin  ! " 

While  we  were  loading,  the  schooner  was  brought 
ro  ind. 

Wade  must  have  got  in  a  pretty  heavy  charge ;  for  the 
report  was  a  stunner. 

"  Load  again,"  said  Kit;  "  and  put  in  a  ball  this  time. 
Let's  load  the  rifle  too." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  1]9 

The  captain  turned  and  regarded  us  doubtfully,  then 
looked  off  toward  the  ship.  "The  Curlew"  was  driving 
lazily  forward,  and,  crossing  the  channel  between  the 
island  under  which  we  had  been  lying  and  the  ice-field, 
passed  slowly  along  the  latter  at  a  distance  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty  or  two  hundred  yards.  We  thus  had  the  ire- 
island  between  us  and  the  possibly  hostile  ship.  With  our 
glasses  we  now  watched  her  movements  attentively.  A 
number  of  officers  were  on  the  quarter-deck. 

"  You  don't  call  that  a  ship-of-war  ?  "  Wade  said  at 
length. 

"  Oh,  no ! "  replied  the  captain ;  "  though  it  is  prob- 
ably an  armed  ship.  All  the  company's  ships  go  armed, 
I've  heard." 

"  There !  "  exclaimed  Kit.  "  They're  letting  down  a 
boat ! " 

"  That's  so  ! "  cried  Wade,  "  They're  going  to  pay  us 
a  visit  sure !  " 

"  They  probably  don't  want  to  trust  their  heavy-laden 
ship  up  here  among  the  islands,"  said  the  captain. 

"  It's  their  long-boat,  I  think,"  said  Kit  "  One,  two, 
three,  four,  five  !  —  why,  there  are  not  less  than  fifteen 
or  twenty  men  in  it !  And  see  there  f  —  weapons  !  " 

As  the  boat  pulled  away  from  the  side,  the  sun  flashed 
brightly  from  a  dozen  gleaming  blades. 

"  Cutlasses !  'r  exclaimed  Raed,  turning  a  little  pale. 

I  am  ready  to  confess,  that,  for  a  moment,  I  felt  as 
weak  as  a  rag.  The  vengeful  gleam  of  the  light  on 
hostile  steel  is  apt,  I  think,  to  give  one  such  a  feeling 
the  first  time  he  sees  it.  The  captain  stood  leaning  on 
the  rail,  with  the  glas>  to  his  eye,  evidently  at  his  wits' 


120  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

end,  and  in  no  little  trepidation.  Very  likely  at  that 
moment  he  wished  our  expedition  had  gone  to  Jeri- 
cho before  he  had  undertaken  it.  Raed,  I  think, 
was  the  first  to  rally  his  courage.  I  presume  he  had 
thought  more  on  the  subject  previously  than  the  rest  of 
us  had  done.  The  sudden  appearance  of  the  ship  had 
therefore  taken  him  less  by  surprise  than  it  did  us. 

"  It  looks  as  if  they  were  going  to  board  us  —  if  we 
let  them,"  he  said  quietly.  "  That's  the  way  it  looks  ; 
isn't  it,  captain  ?  " 

"I  should  say  that  it  did  decidedly,"  Capt.  Hazard 
replied. 

"Boys  I"  exclaimed  Eaed,  looking  round  to  us,  and  to 
the  sailors,  who  had  gathered  about  us  in  some  anxiety, 
—  "boys  !  if  we  let  those  fellows  yonder  board  us,  in  an 
hour  we  shall  all  be  close  prisoners,  in  irons  perhaps, 
and  down  in  the  hold  of  that  ship.  We  shall  be  carried 
out  to  Fort  York,  kept  there  a  month  in  a  dungeon 
likely  as  any  way,  then  sent  to  England  to  be  tried  — 
for  daring  to  sail  into  Hudson  Bay  and  trade  with  the 
Esquimaux  !  What  say,  boys  ?  —  shall  we  let  them  come 
aboard  and  take  us  ?  " 

"No,  sir!"  cried  Kit. 

"  Not  much ! "  exclaimed  Donovan.  "  We'll  fight 
first ! » 

"  Capt.  Hazard,"  continued  Eaed,  "  I'm  really  sorry  to 
have  been  the  means  of  placing  you  in  such  a  predica- 
ment. 'The  Curlew'  will  undoubtedly  be  condemned 
if  seized.  They  would  clap  a  prize-crew  into  her  the 
first  thing,  and  start  her  for  England.  But  there's  no 
need  of  giving  her  up  to  them.  That's  not  a  ship-of- 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  121 

war.  We've  got  arms,  and  can  fight  as  well  as  they. 
We  can  boat  off  that  boat,  I'll  be  bound  to  say :  and  as 
for  their  ship,  I  don't  believe  they'll  care  to  take  her  up 
here  between  the  islands ;  and  if  they  do,  — why,  we  can 
sail  away  from  them.  But,  for  my  own  part,  I  had  rather 
fight,  and  take  an  even"  chance  of  being  killed,  than  be 
taken  prisoner,  and  spend  five  months  below  decks." 

"  Fight  it  is,  then  ! "  exclaimed  the  captain  doggedly. 

By  this  time  the  boat  was  pulling  up  the  channel  to 
the  north  of  the  ice-field,  within  a  mile  of  us. 

"  We  might  crowd  sail,  and  stand  away  to  the  north  of 
tbe  islands  here,"  I  argued. 

"Yes;  but  we  don't  know  how  this  roadstead  ends 
farther  on,"  replied  Raed. 

"  It  may  be  choked  up  with  ice  or  small  islets,"  said 
Kit.  "In  that  case  we  should  run  into  a  trap,  where 
they  would  only  have  to  follow  us  to  be  sure  of  us.  We 
might  abandon  the  schooner,  and  get  ashore ;  but  that 
would  be  nearly  as  bad  as  being  taken  prisoner  —  on  this 
coast." 

"Here's  clear  sailing  round  this  ice-field,"  remarked 
the  captain.  "  My  plan  is  to  keep  their  ship  on  the  op- 
posite of  it  from  us.  If  they  give  chase,  we'll  sail  round 
it." 

"But  how  about  their  boat?  "  demanded  Wade. 

"We  must  beat  it  off!"  exclaimed  the  captain  deter- 
minedly. 

"  Then  we've  not  a  moment  to  lose  ! "  cried  Raed.  — • 
"  Here,  Donovan  !  help  me  move  the  howitzer  to  the 
stern.  —  Kit,  you  and  Wash  and  Wade  get  up  the  mus- 
kets and  load  them.  Bring  up  the  cartridges,  and  get 
caps  and  every  thing  ready." 


122  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

The  howitzer  went  rattling  into  the  stern,  and  was 
pointed  out  over  the  taffrail.  The  big  rifle  followed  it. 
To  the  approaching  boat  their  muzzles  must  have  looked 
a  trifle  grim,  I  fancy.  Matches  and  splints  were  got; 
ready,  as  well  as  wads  and  balls.  The  muskets  were 
charged,  and  the  bayonets  fixed.  The  schooner  was  kept 
moving  gradually  along  at  about  the  same  distance  from 
the  ice.  Bonney  was  stationed  at  the  wheel,  and  Corliss 
at  the  sheets.  Old  Trull  stood  by  the  howitzer.  The 
rest  of  us  took  each  a  musket,  and  formed  in  line  along 
the  after-bulwarks.  Palmleaf,  who  in  the  midst  of  these 
martial  preparations  had  been  enjoying  a  pleasant  after- 
breakfast  snooze,  was  now  called,  and  bade  to  stand  by 
Corliss  at  the  sheets.  His  astonishment  at  the  sight 
which  the  deck  presented  to  his  lately-awakened  optics 
was  very  great ;  the  greater,  that  no  one  would  take  the 
trouble  to  answer  his  anxious  questions. 

The  boat  had  now  come  up  to  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile.  With  cutlasses  flashing,  and  oars  dipping  all  to- 
gether, they  came  closing  in  with  a  long,  even  stroke. 

"  We  don't  want  them  much  within  a  hundred  yards 
of  us,"  said  Capt.  Hazard  in  a  low  tone. 

"  I'll  hail  them,"  replied  Raed,  taking  the  speaking- 
trumpet,  which  the  captain  had  brought  along. 

The  crisis  was  close  at  hand.  We  clutched  the  stocks 
of  our  rifles,  and  stood  ready.  There  was,  I  am  sure,  no 
blenching  nor  flinching  from  the  encounter  which  seemed 
imminent.  We  could  see  the  faces  of  the  men  in  the  boat, 
the  red  face  of  the  officer  in  the  stern.  The  men  were 
armed  with  carbines  and  broad  sabres.  They  had  come 
within  easy  hail. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  123 

*'  Present  arms ! "  commanded  Capt.  Hazard  in  clear 
tones. 

Eight  of  us,  with  our  rifles,  stood  fast. 

"  Repel  boarders  !  " 

Instantly  we  dropped  on  one  knee,  and  brought  our 
pieces  to  bear  over  the  rail,  the  bayonets  flashing  as 
brightly  as  their  own. 

"  Boat  ahoy ! "  shouted  Raed  through  the  trumpet. 

"  Ahoy  yourself ! "  roared  the  red-faced  man  in  the 
stern.  "  What  ship  is  that,  anyway  ?  " 

This  was  rather  insulting  talk :  nevertheless,  Raed 
answered  civilly  and  promptly,  — 

"  The  schooner-yacht  '  Curlew '  of  Portland." 

"Where  bound?     What  are  you  doing  here?" 

"  Bound  on  a  cruise  into  Hudson  Bay ! "  responded 
Raed  coolly;  "for  scientific  purposes,"  he  added. 

"  Scientific  devils ! "  blustered  the  officer.  "  You  can't 
fool  us  so !  You're  in  here  on  a  trading-voyage.  We 
saw  a  kayak  go  off  from  you  not  an  hour  ago." 

Not  caring  to  bandy  words,  Raed  made  no  reply ;  and 
we  knelt  there,  with  our  muskets  covering  them,  in 
silence.  They  had  stopped  rowing,  and  were  falling  be- 
hind a  little;  for  "The  Curlew"  ploughed  leisurely  on. 

"  Why  don't  you  heave  to  ?  "  shouted  the  irate  com- 
mander of  the  boat.  "  I  must  look  at  your  papers ! 
Heave  to  while  I  come  alongside  !  " 

"  You  can't  bring  that  armed  boat  alongside  of  this 
dchooner !"  replied  Raed.  "No  objections  to  your  ex- 
amining our  papers  ;  but  we're  not  green  enough  to 
let  you  bring  an  armed  crew  aboard  of  us." 

"Then  *re  shall  come  without  letting!  Give  way 
there ! " 


124  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

But  his  men  hesitated.  The  sight  of  our  muskets, 
aiid  old  Trull  holding  a  blazing  splinter  over  the  howit- 
zer, was  a  little  toe  much  even  for  the  sturdy  pluck  of 
English  sailors. 

"  Bring  that  boat  another  length  nearer,"  shouted 
Raed  slow  and  distinctly,  "  and  we  shall  open  fire  on 
you ! " 

"The  devil  you  will!" 

"  Yes,  we  will ! " 

At  that  we  all  cocked  our  muskets.  The  sharp  click- 
ing was,  no  doubt,  distinctly  audible  in  the  boat.  The 
officer  thundered  out  a  torrent  of  oaths  and  abuse  ;  to  all 
of  which  Raed  made  no  reply.  They  did  not  advance, 
however.  We  meant  business ;  and  I  guess  they 
thought  so.  Our  stubborn  silence  was  not  misconstrued. 

"  How  do  I  know  that  you're  not  a  set  of  pirates  ?  " 
roared  the  Englishman.  "  You  look  like  it !  But  wait 
till  I  get  back  to  '  The  Rosamond,'  and  I'll  knock  some  of 
the  impudence  out  of  you,  you  young  filibusters !  "  And 
with  a  parting  malediction,  which  showed  wonderful 
ingenuity  in  blasphemy,  he  growled  out  an  order  to 
back  water ;  when  the  boat  was  turned,  and  headed  for 
the  ship. 

"  Give  'em  three  cheers  ! "  said  Kit. 

Whereupon  we  jumped  up,  gave  three  and  a  big 
groan ;  at  which  the  red  face  in  the  stern  turned,  and 
stai'ed  long  and  evilly  at  us. 

"  No  wonder  he's  mad !  "  exclaimed  Raed.  "  Had  to 
row  clean  round  this  ice-field,  and  now  has  got  to  row 
back  for  his  pains  !  Though  the  was  going  to  scare  us 
just  about  into  fits.  Got  rather  disagreeably  disap- 
pointed." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  125 

"  He  was  pretty  well  set  up,  I  take  it,"  remarked  the 
captain.  "  Had  probably  taken  a  drop  before  coming 
off.  His  men  knew  it.  When  he  gave  the  order  to 
'  give  way,'  they  hung  back :  didn't  care  about  it." 

"They  knew  better,"  said  Donovan.  "We  could 
have  knocked  every  one  of  them  011  the  head  before  they 
could  have  got  up  the  side.  It  ain't  as  if  '  The  Curlew' 
was  loaded  down,  and  lay  low  in  the  water.  li's  about  as 
much  as  a  man  can  do  to  get  from  a  boat  up  over  the 
bulwarks.  They  might  have  hit  some  of  us  with  their 
carbines ;  but  they  couldn't  have  boarded  us,  and  they 
knew  it." 

"  You  noticed  what  he  said  about  knocking  the  impu- 
'dence  out  of  us  ?  "  said  Wade.  "  That  means  that  we 
shall  hear  a  noise  and  have  cannon-shot  whistling  about 
our  ears,  I  suppose." 

"  Shouldn't  wonder,"  said  Kit. 

"  Have  to  work  to  hurt  us  much,  I  reckon,"  remarked 
the  captaki.  "  The  distance  across  the  ice-island  here 
can't  be  much  under  two  miles  and  a  half." 

"  Still,  if  they've  got  a  rifled  Whitworth  or  an  Arm- 
strong, they  may  send  some  shots  pretty  near  us,"  said 
Wade. 

"  The  English  used  to  kindly  send  you  Southern  fel- 
lows a  few  Armstrongs  occasionally,  I  have  heard,"  said 
Raed. 

"Yes,  they  did, — just  by  way  of  testing  Lincoln's 
blockade.  Very  good  guns  they  were  too.  We  ought  to 
have  had  more  c  f  them.  I  tell  you,  if  they  have  a  good 
twenty-four-pound  Armstrong  rifle,  and  a  gunner  that 
knows  any  thing,  they  may  give  us  a  job  of  carpenter- 
work  —  to  stop  the  holes." 


126  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  We  might  increase  the  distance  another  quarter  of 
a  mile,"  remarked  Kit,  "  by  standing  off  from  the  ice 
and  making  the  circle  a  little  larger." 

"We'll  do  so,"  said  the  captain.  "Port  the  helm, 
Bonney  ! " 

During  the  next  half-hour  the  schooner  veered  off  two 
or  three  cables'  lengths.  We  watched  the  boat  pulling 
back  to  the  ship.  It  was  nearly  an  hour  getting 
around  the  ice-island.  Finally  it  ran  in  alongside,  and 
was  taken  up.  With  our  glasses  we  could  see  that 
there  was  a  good  deal  of  running  and  hurrying  about 
the  deck. 

"Some tall  swearing  going  on  there  !  "  laughed  Kit. 

"  Now  look  out  for  your  heads  ! "  said  Raed.  .  "  They 
are  pointing  a  gun  !  I  can  see  the  muzzle  of  it!  It  has 
an  ugly  look  !  " 

Some  five  minutes  more  passed,  when  puff  came  a 
little  cloud  of  smoke.  We  held  our  breaths.  It  give? 
a  fellow  a  queer  sensation  to  know  that  a  deadly  projec- 
tile is  coming  for  him.  It  might  have  been  four  sec- 
onds, though  it  seemed  longer,  when  we  saw  the  ice  fiy 
up  rapidly  in  three  or  four  places  half  a  mile  from  the 
schooner  as  the  ball  came  skipping  along,  and,  bounding 
off  the  edge  of  the  ice-field,  plunged  into  the  sea  with  a 
sullen  sudge,  throwing  up  a  white  fountain  ten  or  a 
dozen  feet  high,  which  fell  splashing  back.  We  all  felt 
immensely-  relieved. 

"  That  didn't  come  within  three  hundred  yards  of  us," 
said  Kit. 

"They'll  give  her  more  elevation  next  time,"  said 
Wade.  "I  don't  believe  that  was  an  Armstrong  slug, 
though  :  it  acted  too  sort  of  lazy." 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  127 

"  Look  out,  now  !  "  exclaimed  Raed.  "  They  are 
going  to  give  us  another ! " 

Puff —  one  —  two  —  three  —  four  !  The  hall  struck 
near  the  edge  of  the  ice-field,  rose  with  a  mighty  bound 
twenty  or  thirty  feet,  and,  describing  a  fine  curve,  struck 
spat  upon  the  water;  and  again  rose,  to  plunge  heavily 
down  into  the  ocean  two  hundred  feet  off  the  port 
quarter. 

"  That  was  better,"  said  Raed.  "  They  are  creeping 
up  to  us  !  The  next  one  may  come  aboard  ! " 

"  But  that's  nothing  more  than  an  ordinary  old 
twenty-four-pounder,"  said  Wade.  "Bet  they  haven't 
got  a  rifled  gun.  Lucky  for  us  !  " 

"I  wish  we  had  a  good  Dahlgren  fifty-pound  rifle  !r 
exclaimed  Kit :  "  we  would  just  make  them  get  out  of 
that  quick !  Wouldn't  it  be  fun  to  chase  them  off 
through  the  straits  here,  with  our  big  gun  barking  at 
their  heels ! " 

"  There  they  go  again ! "  shouted  the  captain.  "  Look 
out!" 

We  caught  a  momentary  glimpse  of  the  shot  high  in 
air,  and  held  our  breaths  again  as  it  came  whirling 
down  with  a  quick  thud  into  the  sea  a  few  hundred  feet 
astern,  and  a  little  beyond  us. 

"Gracious!"  cried  Kit.  "If  that  had  struck  on 
the  deck,  it  would  have  gone  down,  clean  down  through, 
I  do  believe  ! " 

"Not  so  bad  as  that,  I  guess,"  said  the  captain. 
"That  heap  of  sand-ballast  in  the  hold  would  stop  it,  J 
reckon." 

"THukso?" 


128  LtFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"Oh,  yes!" 

There  was  real  comfort  in  that  thought.  It  was 
therefore  with  diminished  apprehension  that  we  saw  n 
fourth  shot  come  roaring  down  a  cable's  length  forward, 
and  heyond  the  bows,  and,  a  few  seconds  after,  heard  the 
dull  boom  following  the  shot.  The  report  was  always 
two  or  three  seconds  behind  the  ball. 

They  fired  three  more  of  the  "high  ones,"  as  Kit 
called  them.  None  of  these  came  any  nearer  than  the 
fourth  had  done.  Then  they  tried  another  at  a  less 
elevation,  which  struck  on  the  ice-field,  and  came  skip- 
ping along  as  the  first  had  done  ;  but  it  fell  short. 

"Old  Red-face  will  have  to  give  it  up,  I  guess,"  said 
Kit.  "  He  wants  to  hit  us  awfully,  though  !  If  he 
hadn't  a  loaded  ship,  bet  you,  we  should  see  him  coming 
up  the  channel  between  the  islands  there,  swearing  like 
a  piper." 

"  In  that  case  we  would  just  'bout  ship,  and  lead  him 
on  a  chase  round  this  ice-island  till  he  got  sick  of  it," 
remarked  the  captain.  " '  The  Curlew '  can  give  him 
points,  and  outsail  that  great  hulk  anywhere." 

"He's  euchred,  and  may  as  well  go  about  his  busi- 
ness," laughed  Weymouth. 

"  And  that's  just  what  he's  concluding  to  do,  I  guess," 
eaid  Donovan,  who  had  borrowed  my  glass  for  a  mo- 
ment. "  The  ship's  going  round  to  the  wind." 

"  Yes,  there  she  goes  !  "  exclaimed  Wade. 

"  Possibly  they  may  bear  up  through  the  channel  to 
the  west  of  the  ice-island,"  said  Raed. 

"Hope  he  will,  if  he  wants  to,"  remarked  Capt. 
Hazard.  "  Nothing  would  suit  me  better  than  to  race 
with  him." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  129 

Ii:  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  the  ship  was  off  the 
entrance  of  the  channel ;  but  she  held  on  her  course,  and 
had  soon  passed  it. 

"  Now  that  old  fellow  feels  bad !  "  laughed  Kit.  "  How 
eavage  he  will  be  for  the  next  twenty-four  hours  !  I  pity 
the  sailors  !  He  will  have  two  or  three  of  them  '  spread- 
eagled  '  by  sunset  to  pay  for  this,  the  old  wretch !  He 
looked  just  like  that  sort  of  a  man." 

"I  wonder  what  our  Husky  friends  thought  of  this 
little  bombardment ! "  exclaimed  Wade,  looking  off  to- 
ward the  mainland.  "Don't  see  any  thing  of  them." 

"  Presume  we  sha'n't  get  that  old  '  sachem  '  that  saw 
Palmleaf  to  visit  us  again  in  a  hurry,"  said  Kit. 

We  watched  the  ship  going  off  to  the  south-west 
for  several  hours,  till  she  gradually  sank  from  view. 

"  Well,  captain,"  said  Raed,  "  you  are  not  going  to 
let  this  adventure  frighten  you,  I  hope." 

"  Oh,  no !  I  guess  we  can  take  care  of  ourselves. 
Only,  in  future,  I  think  we  had  better  keep  a  sharper 
lookout,  not  to  let  another  ship  come  up  within  three 
miles  without  our  knowing  it." 

It  was  now  after  four  o'clock,  P.M.  Not  caring  to 
follow  too  closely  after  the  company's  ship,  we  beat  back 
to  our  anchorage  of  the  previous  evening,  and  anchored 
for  the  night.  ' 

Saw  nothing  more  of  the  Esquimaux ;  and,  early  tho 
next  morning,  sailed  out  into  the 'straits,  and  continued 
on  during  the  whole  day,  keeping  the  mountains  of  the 
mainland  to  the  northward  well  in  sight  at  a  distance 
of  eight  or  ten  miles,  and  occasionally  sighting  high  is- 
lands to  the  south  of  the  straits. 
9 


130  LEFT   ON   LABRADOR. 

By  five  o'clock,  afternoon,  we  were  off  a  third  group 
of  islands  on  the  north  side,  known  as  the  "Uppei 
Savage  Isles."  During  the  evening  and  night  \ve 
passed  them  a  few  miles  toK  the  south,  —  a  score  of 
black,  craggy  islets.  Even  the  bright  light  of  the  wan- 
ing sun  could  not  enliven  their  utter  desolation.  Drear, 
oh,  how  drear  !  with  their  thunder-battered  peaks  rising 
abruptly  from  the  ocean,  casting  long  black  shadows  to 
the  eastward.  Many  of  them  were  mere  tide-washed 
ledges,  environed  by  ice-fields. 

About  nine  o'clock,  evening,  the  ice-patches  began  to 
thicken  ahead.  By  ten  we  were  battering  heavily  among 
it,  with  considerable  danger  of  staving  in  the  bows.  The 
foresail  was  accordingly  taken  in,  and  double  reefs  put 
in  the  mainsail.  The  weather  had  changed,  with  heavy 
lowering  clouds  and  a  rapidly -falling  thermometer. 
Nevertheless  we  boys  turned  in,  and  went  to  sleep. 
Experience  was  beginning  to  teach  us  to  sleep  when  we 
could.  The  heavy  rumble  of  thunder  roused  us.  Bright, 
sudden  flashes  gleamed  through  the  bull's-eyes.  The 
motion  of  the  schooner  had  changed. 

"What's  up,  I  wonder?"  asked  Kit,  sitting  up  on  the 
side  of  his  mattress. 

Another  heavy  thunder-peal  burst,  rattling  oveihead. 
Hastily  putting  on  our  coats  and  caps,  we  went  on  deck, 
where  a  scene  of  such  wild  and  terrible  grandeur  pre- 
sented itself,  that  I  speak  of  it,  even  at  this  lapse  of 
time,  with  a  shudder;  knowing,  too,  that  I  can  give  no 
adequate  idea  of  it  in  words.  I  will  not  say  that  I  am 
not  glad  to  have  witnessed  it ;  but  I  should  not  want  to 
see  it  again.  To  the  lovers  of  the  awfully  sublime,  it 


LEFT  ON   LABRADOR.  131 

would  have  been  worth  a  journey  around  the  earth.  It 
seemed  as  if  all  the  vast  antagonistic  forces  of  Natitre 
had  been  suddenly  confronted  with  each  other.  The 
schooner  had  been  hove  to  in  the  lee  of  an  ice-field  en- 
girdling one  of  the  smaller  islets,  with  all  sail  taken  in 
save  the  jib.  Weymouth  was  at  the  wheel;  the  cap- 
tain stood  near  him ;  Hobbs  and  Donovan  were  in  the 
bow;  Bonney  stood  by  the  jib-halliards.  On  the  port 
side  the  ice-field  showed  like  a  pavement  of  alabaster  on 
a  sea  of  ink,  contrasting  wildly  with  the  black,  rolling 
clouds,  which,  like  the  folds  of  a  huge  shroud,  draped 
the  heavens  in  darkness.  On  the  starboard,  the  heaving 
waters,  black  as  night,  were  covered  with  pure  white  ice- 
cakes,  striking  and  battering  together  with  heavy  grind- 
ings.  The  lightnings  played  against  the  inky  clouds, 
forked,  zigzag,  and  dazzling  to  the  eye.  The  thunder- 
echoes,  unmuffled  by  vegetation,  were  reverberated  from 
bare  granitic  mountains  and  naked  ice-fields  with  a  hol- 
low rattle  that  deafened  and  appalled  us ;  and,  in  the 
intervals  of  thunder,  the  hoarse  bark  of  bears,  and  their 
affrighted  growlings,  were  borne  to  our  ears  with  savage 
distinctness.  Mingled-with  these  noises  came  the  screams 
and  cries  of  scores  x>f  sea-birds,  wheeling  and  darting 
about. 

It  was  half-past  two,  morning. 

"  What  a  fearfully  grand  scene' !  "  exclaimed  Wade. 

And  I  recollect  that  we  all  laughed  in  his  face,  the 
words  seemed  so  utterly  inadequate  to  express  what,  by 
common  consent,  was  accorded  unutterable.  An  hour 
later,  the  blackness  of  the  heavens  had  rolled  away  to 
the  westward,  a  fog  began  to  rise,  and  morning  ligl.fc 
effaced  the  awful  panorama  of  night. 


132  LEFT  ON  LAW;  A  DOR. 

By  six  o'clock  the  fog  was  so  dense  that  nothing  could 
be  seen  a  half  cable's  length,  and  continued  thus  till 
afternoon,  during  which  time  we  lay  hove  to  under  the  lee 
of  the  ice.  But  by  two  o'clock  a  smart  breeze  from  the 
north  lifted  it.  The  schooner  was  put  about,  and,  under 
close-reefed  sails3  went  bumping  through  the  intermina- 
ble ice-patches  which  seem  ever  to  choke  these  straits. 
The  mountains  to  the  northward  showed  white  after  the 
squalls  of  last  night ;  and  the  seals  were  leaping  as 
briskly  amid  the  ice-cakes  as  if  the  terrific  scenery  of 
the  previous  evening  had  but  given  zest  to  their  un- 
wieldy antics. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

A.  Barren  Shore,  and  a  Strange  Animal,  which  is  captured  by  blowing  up 
Its  Den.  —  Palmleaf  falls  in  with  the  Esquimaux,  and  is  chased  by 
them.  —  "Twau-ve!"— "  A  Close  Shave."  — An  Attack  threatened.— 
The  Savages  dispersed  with  the  Howitzer. 

T^O  avoid  the  thick  patches  of  heavy  ice  which  were 
this  afternoon  driving  out  toward  the  Atlantic,  we 
bore  up  quite  near  the  mainland  on  the  north  side,  and 
continued  beating  on,  with  the  wind  north  all  night,  at 
the  rate  of — at  a  guess  —  two  knots  per  hour.  It  was 
dull  work.  We  turned  in  at  twelve,  and  slept  soundly 
till  five,  when  the  noisy  rattling  of  the  cable  through 
the  hawse  aroused  us.  The  wind  had  died  out,  and  they 
had  dropped  the  anchor  in  forty-three  fathoms.  It  was 
a  cloudy  morning  :  every  thing  had  a  leaden,  dead  look. 
We  were  about  half  a  mile  from  the  shore ;  and  after 
breakfast,  having  nothing  better  to  do,  fell  to  examin- 
ing it  with  our  glasses.  Shelving  ledges  rose  up,  terrace 
on  terrace,  into  dark  mountains,  back  two  and  three 
miles  from  the  sea.  The  whole  landscape  seemed  made 
up  of  water,  granite,  and  ice.  The  black,  leathern  lich- 
ens added  to  the  gloomy  aspect  of  the  shore-rocks,  on 
which  the  waves  were  beating  —  forever  beating  —  with 
sullen  plashing?  Terrible  must  be  the  aspect  of  this 

133 


J34  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

const  in  \v inter.  Now  the  hundreds  of  ^fater-fow] 
wheeling  over  it,  and  enlivening  the  crags  with  their 
cries,  softened  its  grimness.  Farther  along  the  shore- 
ledges  Kit  presently  espied  a  black  animal  of  some  kind, 
and  called  our  attention  to  it. 

"  He  seems  to  be  eating  something  there,"  said  he. 

We  looked  at  it. 

"  It's  not  an  Esquimau  dog,  is  it  ?  "  Wade  asked. 

"  Oh,  no !  head  don't  look  like  a  dog's,"  observed  Kit. 
"  Besides,  their  dogs  are  not  so  dark-colored  as  that." 

"  This  seems  from  here  to  be  almost  or  quite  black," 
Eaed  remarked ;  "  as  black  as  Guard.  Not  quite  so 
large,  though." 

Wade  thought  it  was  fully  as  large. 

"  If  we  were  in  Maine,  I  should  say  it  was  a  small 
black  bear,"  said  Kit ;  "  but  I  have  never  heard  of  a 
black  bear  being  seen  north  of  Hudson  Straits." 

The  head  seemed  to  me  to  be  too  small  for  a  bear. 

"  Captain,  what  do  you  think  of  that  animal  ?  "  Kit 
asked,  handing  him  his  glass. 

Capt.  Hazard  looked. 

"  If  it  hadn't  such  short  legs,  I  should  pronounce  it 
a  black  wolf,"  he  replied.  "  It's  too  large  for  a  fislier, 
isn't  it  ?  I  don't  know  that  fishers  are  found  so  far 
north,  either.  How  is  that  ?  " 

"  Hearne,  in  his  '  Northern  Journey,'  speaks  of  the 
fisher  being  met  with,  farther  west,  in  latitude  as  far 
north  as  this."  said  I. 

"  But  that's  too  big  for  a  fisher,"  said  Eaed ;  "  too 
thick  and  heavy.  A  fisher  is  slimmer." 

"  Who  knows  but  it  may  be  a  new  species !  "  exclaimed 


LEFT   ON   LABRADOR.     .  135 

Kit,  laughing.  "Now's  a  chance  to  distiuguisn  our- 
selves as  naturalists  !  If  we  can  discover  a  new  animal 
of  that  size  in  this  age  of  natural  history,  and  prove  that 
we  are  the  discoverers,  it  will  be  monument  enough  for 
us  :  we  can  then  afford  to  retire  on  our  laurels.  Call  it  a 
long  Latin  name,  and  tack  our  own  names,  with  the  end- 
ing ii  or  MS  on  them,  to  that,  and  you're  all  right  for 
distant  posterity.  That's  what  some  of  our  enterprising 
young  naturalists,  who  swarm  out  from  Yale  and  Cam- 
bridge, seem  to  think.  Only  a  few  weeks  ago,  I  was 
reading  of  a  new  sort  of  minute  infusorial  insect  or  mol- 
lusk,  [  don't  pretend  to  understand  which,  bearing  the 
name  of  'Mussa  Braziliensis  Hartii  Verrill.'  Now,  I 
like  that.  There's  a  noble  aspiration  for  fame  as  well 
as  euphony.  Only  it's  a  little  heavy  on  the  poor  mol- 
lusk  to  make  him  draw  these  aspiring  young  gentlemen 
up  the  steep  heights  of  ambition.  But  if  they  can 
afford  to  risk  two  names  on  a  tiny  bit  of  jelly  as  big  as 
the  head  of  a  pin,  say,  I  think  we  should  be  justified  in 
putting  all  four  of  ours  on  to  this  big  beast  over  here. 
And,  since  the  captain  thinks  it's  like  a  wolf,  suppose  we 
call  it  'Lupus  rabidus  Additonii  J3urleighii  Raedway- 
vius ' "  — 

•'•'There,  that'll  do!"  cried  Raed.      "You've  spelt! 
Go  up  head ! " 

<(  There's  another  creature  coming  along  the  rocks ! " 
ex:laimed  Wade.     "That's  a  bear!     He's  coming  out 
where  the  black  one  is  ! " 

"  There,"  said  Bead,  "  you  can  see  now  that  the  bear 
is  much  the  larger." 

"  Yes ;  but  a  white  bear  is  considerably  larger  than  a 
black  bear,"  replied  Kit. 


13l>  LEFT  ON 

"  Look  quick ! "  cried  Wade.  "  There's  going  to  be  a 
brush  !  See  the  black  one  bristle  up  ! " 

"  He's  got  something  there  he  don't  want  to  give  up," 
said  the  captain. 

"  Bear  says,  '  I'll  take  your  place  at  that,' "  laughed 
Kit.  "  He  walks  up  to  him.  By  George  !  did  you  see 
the  black  one  jump  at  him  ?  Bear  sent  him  spinning 
with  his  paw.  He  won't  go  off.  Stands  there  growling, 
I'll  bet." 

"  I  should  really  like  to  know  what  sort  of  a  beast 
that  is,"  said  Raed.  "  Captain,  have  the  boat  let  down, 
if  you  please.  I  would  like  to  go  over  there." 

"  Good  chance  to  get  another  bear-skin,"  observed 
Kit.  "  We  need  one  more." 

The  boat  was  lowered ;  and  we  four,  with  Guard,  and 
Weymouth  and  Don  to  row,  got  into  it,  and  paddled 
across  toward  where  the  bear  was  feeding,  and  the  black 
creature,  sitting  up  like  a  dog,  watching  him.  We 
worked  up  quietly  to  within  about  half  a  cable's  length 
(three  hundred  and  sixty  feet)  without  disturbing  them. 
It  was  a  pretty  large  bear :  but  the  black  animal  did  not 
seem  more  than  two-thirds  as  large  as  Guard ;  and,  the 
nearer  we  came  to  it,  the  more  in  doubt  we  were  as  to 
its  species. 

"  I  never  saw  any  thing  at  all  like  it,"  remarked 
Raed. 

"  Wouldn't  it  be  jolly  if  it  should  prove  to  be  a  new, 
undiscovered  animal ! "  exclaimed  Wade. 

"  That's  rather  too  good  to  be  true,"  replied  Kit ;  "  but 
we'll  see." 

Just  then  Guard  got  his  eye  on  them,  and  barked 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR  137 

gruffly.  The  bear  looked  round :  so  did  the  black  crea- 
ture. 

"  Kit,  you  and  Wade  take  the  bear/'  advised  Raed. 
"  Wash  and  I  will  fire  at  the  black  one.  Get  good  aim, 
now." 

We  took  as  good  aim  as  the  rocking  of  the  boat  would 
permit,  and  fired  nearly  together.  The  bear  growled 
out  savagely :  the  black  beast  snarled. 

"  There  they  go  ! "  exclaimed  Weymouth. 

The  bear  was  running  off  along  the  shore,  galloping 
like  a  hog.  The  black  animal  was  going  straight  back 
over  the  ledges. 

"  Pull  in  quick ! "  shouted  Raed. 

The  boat  was  rowed  up  to  the  shore.  Jumping  out, 
we  pulled  it  up  on  the  rocks. 

"  Here,  Guard ! "  cried  Kit,  running  forward  to  where 
the  ledges  gave  a  better  view.  "  There  he  goes !  take 
him  now  ! "  for  we  had  got  a  momentary  glimpse  of  the 
black  animal  crossing  the  crest  of  a  ledge  several  hun- 
dred yards  away. 

"  Come  on,  Weymouth  ! "  exclaimed  Wade ;  "  and  you, 
Donovan!  Let's  we  three  go  after  the  bear.  They'll 
take  care  of  the  new  species:  we'll  go  for  the  old" 

Kit  had  run  on  after  Guard.  R-aed  and  I  followed  as 
fast  as  we  could.  The  Newfoundland,  chasing  partly  by 
sight  and  partly  by  scent,  was  already  a  good  way  ahead ; 
and  \ve  soon  lost  sight  of  him  among  the  ledgy  hillocks 
and  ridges.  We  could  hear  him  barking ;  but  the  rockg 
echoed  the  sound  so  confusedly,  that  it  was  hard  telling 
where  he  was.  Hundreds  of  kittiwakes  were  starting  up 
all  about  us  too,  with  such  a  chorus  of  cries  that  it  was 


133  LEFT   ON   LABRADOK. 

not  very  clear  which  was  dog.  Presently  we  lost  sound 
of  Guard  altogether,  and  wandered  on  at  random  for  ten 
or  fifteen  minutes,  but  finally  met  him  coming  back. 
As  soon  as  he  saw  us,  he  turned  and  led  off  again  ;  and. 
following  him  for  thirty  or  forty  rods,  we  came  to  a  fis- 
sure between  two  large  rocky  fragments,  partially  over- 
laid by  a  third.  Guard  ran  up,  and  by  a  bark  seemed 
to  say,  "  In  here ! "  Kit  thrust  in  his  musket,  and  wo 
heard  a  growl. 

"  Holed  him  !  "  cried  Raed. 

"Pretty  strong  posish,  though,"  said  Kit,  looking 
about.  "If  we  only  had  a  big  pry  here,  we  might  heave 
up  this  top  rock,  and  so  get  at  him." 

"  I  don't  suppose  there's  a  tree  big  enough  to  use  as 
a  lever  within  a  hundred  miles  of  here,"  remarked  Raed, 
looking  around. 

We  ran  in  our  muskets,  but  could  not  touch  the  crea- 
ture. He  seemed  to  have  crept  round  an  angle  of  one 
of  the  bottom  rocks,  so  as  to  be  well  out  of  reach  and  out 
of  range.  The  hole  was  scarcely  large  enough  to  admit 
Guard,  and  the  dog  did  not  seem  greatly  disposed  to  go 
in.  We  fired  our  muskets,  one  at  a  time,  holding  the 
muzzles  inside  the  opening,  hoping  to  frighten  the  ani- 
mal out ;  but  he  didn't  see  fit  to  leave  his  stronghold. 

"  If  we  had  only  a  pound  or  two  of  powder  here,"  ob- 
served Raed,  examining  the  crevices  about  the  rocks,  "  I 
tlr.nk  we  might  mine  this  top  rock,  and  blow  it  up." 

"  That  will  be  the  only  way  to  get  at  him,"  said  Kit. 

"  Well,  we  can  go  back  to  the  schooner  for  some,"  I 
euggested. 

"Yes,"'  said  Kit.     "Raed,  you  and  Guard  stay  here 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  139 

and  watch  him.      Wash  and  I  will  go  for  the  pow- 
der." 

We  started  off,  and,  on  getting  back  to  the  beach,  found 
Wade,  with  Weymouth  and  Donovan,  standing  near  "he 
boat. 

"  Where's  your  bear  ?  "  Kit  demanded. 

"Ycu  say,"  laughed  Weymouth,  "you  were  one  of  the 
two  that  shot  at  him." 

"  He  showed  too  much  speed  for  us,"  said  Donovan, 

"  But  where's  your  new  species  ?  "  Wade  inquired. 

"  Oh  !  he's  all  right,  —  up  here  in  a  hole." 

"  That  so  ?  Here's  what  he  was  eating  when  the  bear 
drove  him  away,"  —  pointing  down  among  the  rocks, 
where  a  lot  of  large  bones  lay  partly  in  the  water. 

"  What  kind  of  an  animal  was  that  ?  "  Kit  asked. 

"  A  finback,  I  think,"  replied  Weymouth.  "  Died  or 
got  killed  among  the  ice,  and  the  wa?es  washed  the  car- 
cass up  here.  Been  dead  a  good  while." 

"  I  should  say  so,  by  the  smell.  Putrid,  isn't  it  ? 
Why,  that  beast  must  have  had  a  strong  stomach ! " 

Weymouth  and  Donovan  went  off  to  the  schooner 
after  the  powder  in  our  places,  and  came  back  in  about 
twenty  minutes.  Palinleaf  was  with  them. 

"  You  haven't  come  on  another  bear-hunt,  I  hope  ! " 
cried  Wade. 

"No,  sar.  Don't  tink  much  of  dem  bars,  sar.  Got 
a  voice  jest  like  ole  massa  down  Souf.  'Spression  very 
much  like  his  when  he  used  ter  take  at  us  cullered  folks 
with  his  bowie-knife." 

"  Pity  he  hadn't  overtaken  you  witb  it ! "  Wade  ex- 
claimed, to  hector  him.  "  He  would  have  saved  the 
hangman  a  job  —  not  far  distant." 


140  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Dere's  a  difference  ob  'pinions  as  to  where  de  nooso 
ought  ter  come,"  muttered  the  affronted  darky.  "  Some 
tinks  it's  in  one  place,  some  in  anoder." 

Securing  the  boat  by  the  painter  to  a  rock,  we  went 
up  over  the  ledges  to  where  Raed  was  doing  sentinel 
duty  before  the  fissure. 

"  Has  he  made  any  demonstrations  ?  "  Kit  asked. 

"  Growls  a  little  occasionally,"  said  Raed.  "  I've  been 
looking  at  the  cracks  under  this  top  rock.  This  on  the 
right  is  the  one  to  mine,  I  think.  I've  cleared  it  out : 
it's  all  ready  for  the  powder.  What  have  you  got  for  a 
slow  match  ?" 

Donovan  had  brought  a  bit  of  rope,  which  he  picked 
to  pieces,  while  Kit  and  Raed  sifted  in  the  powder. 
The  tow  was  then  laid  in  a  long  trail,  running  back  some 
two  feet  from  the  crack. 

"  Now  be  ready  to  shoot  when  the  blast  goes  off,"  ad- 
vised Raed.  "  He  may  jump  out  and  run.  Palmleaf, 
you  keep  Guard  back." 

The  rest  of  us  took  our  stand  off  thirty  or  forty  yards, 
and,  cocking  our  guns,  stood  ready  to  shoot.  Raed 
then  lighted  a  match,  touched  the  tow,  and  retired  with 
alacrity.  It  flamed  up,  and  ran  along  the  train ;  then 
suddenly  went  nearly  out,  but  blazed  again,  and  crept 
slowly  up  to  the  powder ;  when  whank  !  and  the  rock 
hopped  out  from  between  the  others,  and  rolled  spitefully 
along  the  ground.  We  stood  with  our  guns  to  our 
shoulders,  and  our  fingers  on  the  triggers.  But  the  beast 
didn't  show  himself. 

"  Possibly  it  killed  him,"  said  Kit. 

Raed  picked  up  some  rough  pebbles,  and  pitched  one 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  141 

over  between  the  rocks.     Instantly  there  was  a  scramble  t 
and  our  black-furred  friend  leaped  out  and  ran. 

Crack-7t-k-k  !  —  a  running  fire.  Guard  rushed  after 
him.  The  creature  fell  at  the  reports,  but  scrambled  up 
as  the  dog  charged  upon  him,  and  tried  to  defend  him- 
self. But  the  bullets  had  riddled  him.  In  an  instant, 
Guard  had  him  by  the  throat :  he  was  dead.  There 
were  five  shoe-holes  in  the  carcass  :  one  of  them,  at  least, 
must  have  been  received  when  we  fired  at  him  from  th< 
boat. 

It  was  a  very  strong,  muscular  creature,  with  short 
stout  legs  and  broad  feet,  with  claws  not  so  sharp  and 
retractile  as  a  lynx's;  seemingly  intermediate  between  a 
cat's  claws  and  a  dog's  nails.  The  tail  was  quite  long 
and  bushy :  indeed,  the  creature  was  rather  shaggy  than 
otherwise.  The  head  and  mouth  were  not  large  for  the 
body.  The  teeth  seemed  to  me  much  like  those  of  a. 
lynx.  I  have  no  doubt  that  it  was  a  glutton  (Gulo  lus- 
cus),  or  wolverine,  as  they  are.  indifferently  called ;  though 
none  of  us  had  at  that  time  previously  seen  one  of  these 
creatures.  Donovan  and  Weymouth  undertook  to  skin 
it ;  and,  while  they  were  thus  employed,  the  rest  of  us, 
with  Palmleaf  and  Guard,  went  off  to  shoot  a  dozen 
kittiwakes.  We  had  gone  nearly  half  a  mile,  I  presume, 
and  secured  five  birds,  when  Wade  called  out  to  us  to 
see  a  large  eagle,  or  hawk,  which  was  wheeling  siowly 
about  a  high  crag  off  to  the  left. 

"  It's  a  white-headed  eagle,  isn't  it  ?  "  said  he- 
Kit  thought  it  might   be.     But  Raed  and   I   both 
thought  not.     It  seemed  scarcely  so  large ;  and,  so  far  as 
we  could  see,  the  head  was  not  white.     It  occurred  to 


142  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

me  that  it  might  be  the  famous  gerfalcon,  or  Icelandic 
eagle ;  and,  on  mentioning  this  supposition,  B-aed  and 
Kit  both  agreed  with  me  that  it  seemed  likely.  Wish- 
ing, if  possible,  to  secure  it,  I  crept  along  under  the  crag, 
and,  watching  my  chance  as  it  came  circling  over,  fired. 
'Twas  a  very  long  shot.  I  had  little  expectation  of  hitting : 
yet  my  bullet  must  have  struck  it ;  for  it  napped  over, 
and  came  toppling  down  till  within  a  hundred  feet  of 
the  top  of  the  crag,  when  it  recovered  itself,  mounted  a 
little,  but  gradually  settled  in  the  air  till  lost  from  sight 
behind  the  crag.  Thinking  it  barely  possible  that  it 
might  fall  to  the  ground,  I  sent  Palmleaf  with  Guard 
round  where  the  acclivity  was  not  so  great,  to  look  for  it. 
The  negro  had  seen  the  bird  fall,  and  started  off.  I  let 
him  take  my  musket,  and,  with  the  rest  of  the  boys, 
went  down  to  the  water,  which  was  distant  from  where 
we  then  were  not  more  than  a  hundred  rods.  Donovan 
and  Weymouth  had  already  finished  skinning  the  glut- 
ton, and  gone  down  to  the  boat.  Knowing  we  had  fol- 
lowed off  to  the  left,  they  embarked,  and  came  paddling 
along  to  pick  us  up.  They  came  up ;  and  we  got  in  with 
our  kittiwakes,  and  then  stood  off  a  few  yards  'to  wait 
for  the  negro.  I  had  not  expected  he  would  be  gone  so 
long.  We  were  looking  for  him  every  moment ;  wheu 
suddenly  we  heard  the  report  of  his  musket,  apparently 
a  long  way  behind  the  crag. 

"  Confound   the  darky !  "  muttered   Raed.       "  What 
could  possess  him  to  go  so  far  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  the  eagle  kept  flying  on,"  suggested  Kit. 

We  waited  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes.     No  signs  01 
him. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  143 

"  You  don't  suppose  the  rascal's  got  lost,  do  you  ?  " 
Wade  said. 

"  No  need  of  that,  I  should  imagine,"  replied  Ka^d. 

We  waited  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  longer. 

"We  might  as  well  go  after  him,"  Kit  was  saying; 
when,  at  a  distance,  a  great  shouting  and  uproar  arose, 
accompanied  by  the  barking  of  dogs  and  all  the  other 
accompaniments  of  a  general  row  and  rumpus. 

"  What  the  dickens  is  up  now  ?  "  exclaimed  Kit. 

"  It's  the  Huskies  !  "  cried  Weymouth. 

"  You  don't  suppose  they  are  after  Palmleaf,  do  you  ?  " 
Raed  demanded. 

We  listened  eagerly.  The  hubbub  was  increasing ;  and, 
a  moment  later,  we  espied  the  negro  bursting  over  the 
ledges  off  to  the  left  at  a  headlong  run,  with  a  whole 
crowd  of  Esquimaux  only  a  few  rods  behind,  brandish- 
ing their  harpoons  and  darts.  There  were  dogs  too. 
Guard  was  running  with  Palmleaf,  facing  about  every 
few  leaps,  and  barking  savagely.  All  the  dogs  were 
barking ;  all  the  Huskies  were  ta-yar-r-r-ing  and  chas- 
ing on. 

"  They'll  have  him ! "  shouted  Kit.    "  To  the  rescue !  -*' 

A  smart  pull  of  the  oars  sent  the  boat  up  to  the  rocks. 
Raed  and  Kit  and  Wade  sprang  out,  cocking  their  mus- 
kets ;  Donovan  followed  with  one  of  the  oars ;  and  I 
seized  the  boat-hook,  and  started  after  them.  Palmleaf 
was  tearing  down  toward  the  water,  running  for  his  life. 
He  had  lost  the  musket.  Seeing  us,  he  set  up  a  piteous 
howl  of  terror.  He  had  distanced  his  pursuers  a  little. 
The  savages  were  now  six  or  eight  rods  behind ;  but  the 
Jogs  were  at  his  heels,  and  were  only  kept  off  him  by  the 


144  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

sudden  facings  and  savage  growls  of  Guard,  who  val- 
iantly stemmed  the  canine  avalanche.  We  met  him 
about  fifty  yards  from  the  boat,  and  raised  a  loud  hurrah. 

"  Into  the  boat  with  you  !  "  Raed  sang  out  to  him. 

The  dogs  howled  and  snarled  viciously  at  us.  Dono- 
van cut  at  them  with  his  oar  right  and  left ;  while  Raed, 
Kit,  and  Wade  levelled  their  muskets  at  the  horde  of 
rushing,  breathless  savages,  who  seemed  not  to  have 
seen  us  at  all  till  that  moment,  so  intent  had  they  been 
after  the  negro.  Discovering  us,  the  front  ones  tried  to 
pull  up;  and,  those  behind  running  up,  they  were  all 
crowded  together,  shouting  and  screaming,  and  punching 
each  other  with  their  harpoons. 

"Avast  there!"  shouted  Donovan,  flourishing  his  oar. 

"  Halt ! "  ordered  Wade. 

While  Kit,  remembering  a  word  of  Esquimaux,  bade 
them  "  Tivau-ve  "  ("  Begone  ")  at  the  top  of  his  voice. 

I  must  say  that  they  were  a  wicked-looking  lot,  — the 
front  ones,  at  least,  — comprising  some  of  the  largest  Es- 
quimaux we  had  yet  seen.  There  must  have  been  thirty 
or  forty  in  the  front  groups ;  and  others  were  momenta- 
rily rushing  in  from  behind.  The  dogs  too,  fifty  or 
sixty  at  least  calculation,  —  great,  gauat,  wolfish,  yellow 
curs,  —  looked  almost  as  dangerous  as  their  masters. 

"  We  must  get  out  of  this  !  "  exclaimed  Raed  ;  for  they 
were  beginning  to  brandish  their  harpoons  menacingly, 
and  shout  and  howl  still  louder. 

"  If  we  turn,  they'll  set  upon  us  before  we  can  get  into 
the  boat ! "  muttered  Kit. 

"  Fire  over  their  heads,  to  gain  time ! "  shouted  Wade, 
"  Ready ! " 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  145 

The  three  muskets  cracked.  A  great  hi-yar-r-r  and 
screeching  followed  the  reports;  under  cover  of  which 
and  the  smoke  we  legged  it  for  the  boat,  and,  tumbling 
in,  were  shoved  hastily  off  by  Weymouth.  Before  we 
had  got  twenty  yards,  however,  the  savages  were  on  the 
bank,  yelling,  and  throwing  stones,  several  of  which  fell 
in  among  us ;  but  we  were  soon  out  of  their  reach. 

"That's  what  I  call  a  pretty  close  shave!"  exclaimed 
Donovan,  panting. 

"  We  couldn't  have  stood  against  them  much  longer," 
said  Kit.  "  I  didn't  suppose  they  had  so  much  ferocity 
about  them.  Those  we  saw  down  at  the  middle  islands 
were  kittenish  enough." 

"These  may  belong  to  a  different  tribe,"  replied 
Raed. 

Palmleaf,  completely  exhausted,  lay  all  in  a  heap  in 
the  bow.  We  pulled  off  to  the  schooner.  The  savages 
and  their  dogs  kept  up  a  confused  medley  of  howls  and 
shouts :  it  was  hard  distinguishing  the  human  cries  from 
the  canine. 

Capt.  Mazard  and  the  men  were  leaning  over  the  rail, 
waiting.  They  had  been  watching  the  fracas,  and  un- 
derstood it  as  little  as  we  did. 

"What's  the  row?"  demanded  the  captain  as  we 
came  under  the  stern.  "  What's  all  that  beastly  noise 
about  ?  " 

"  Ask  Palmleaf,"  said  Wade. 

"  I  saw  you  fire,"  continued  the  captain.  "  You  didn't 
kill  any  of  them,  did  you  ?  " 

"Oh,  no!"  said  Raed.  "We  fired  high  to  frighten 
them." 

10 


146  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  I'm  glad  you  didn't  kill  any  of  the  poor  wretches." 

"  Tell  us  how  it  happened,  Palmleaf,"  said  Kit. 

"  Did  you  come  upon  them  ?  or  did  they  come  upon 
you  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Why,  I  was  gwine  arter  dat  hawk,  you  know,"  said 
the  African,  still  sober  from  his  terror  and  his  race. 

"  Yes." 

"  He  was  fell  down  ober  behind  de  crag,  as  you  said 
he'd  be ;  but  he  flew  up  'fore  I'd  gut  near  'im,  an'  kep' 
flyin'  up." 

"And  you  kept  following  him,"  added  Raed.  "Well, 
what  next  ?  How  far  did  you  go  ?  " 

"  Oh  !  I  went  a  long  ways.     I  meant  ter  fotch  'im." 

"Half  a  mile?" 

"Yes,  sar;  should  tink  so." 

"  Did  you  fire  at  the  eagle  ?  "  Kit  asked. 

"  Yes,  sar :  seed  him  settin'  on  a  ledge,  an'  fired.  He 
flew,  and  I  chased  arter  him  agin." 

"  But  how  did  you  come  to  meet  the  Huskies  ?  "  de- 
manded the  captain. 

"  Well,  sar,  I'se  runnin'  along,  payin'  all  my  'tention 
to  de  hawk,  when  all  ter  once  I  come  plump  onto  two 
ob  dere  wimin  folks  wid  a  lot  ob  twine  tings  in  dere 
han's." 

"  Snaring  birds,"  said  Kaed.     "  Go  on  ! " 

"  Dey  seed  me,  an'  stud  lookin',  wid  dere  hair  all  ober 
dere  faces." 

"That  stopped  you,  I  suppose?"  said  Wade. 

"  I  jest  halted  up  a  bit,  an'  cast  my  eye  t'-vurds  dem." 

"  You  paid  the  most  of  your  '  'tentiou '  to  them, 
then?"  continued  Wade  maliciously. 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  147 

"  Jest  stopped  a  rainit." 

"To  say  a  word  to  them  on  your  own  account,  I'll 
warrant." 

"  Thought  I'd  jest  speak  an'  tell  dem  dey  needn't  be 
ser  'fraid  on  me." 

"  Shut  up,  Wade  ! "  interposed  Kit.  "  Let  him  tell  his 
story.  What  did  the  women  do?" 

"  Dey  turned  an'  naked  it,  an'  hollered  as  loud  as  dey 
cud  squawk." 

Wade  and  the  captain  began  to  laugh. 

"  A  black  man  with  a  black  dog  was  too  much  for 
them ! "  exclaimed  Eaed.  "  Well,  what  next,  Palmleaf  ?  " 

"Dey  run'd ;  an'  'twan't  a  minit  'fore  a  whole  gang  ob 
de  men  cum  runnin'  up,  wid  dere  picked  bone  tings  in 
dere  ban's." 

"  That'll  do,"  said  Kit.     "We  know  the  rest." 

"What  became  of  my  musket?"  I  asked. 

"  I  dunno.     I  tink  I  mus'  ha'  dropped  it." 

"  It  does  look  like  that,"  Kit  remarked. 

"  See  here,  you  '  Fifteenth  Amendment ' ! "  exclaimed 
the  captain,  turning  to  him :  "  you  had  better  stay  aboard 
in  future." 

"  I  tink  so  too,  sar,"  said  Palmleaf. 

The  crowd  on  the  shore  had  grown  larger.  There 
could  not  have  been  much  less  than  two  hundred  of 
them,  we  thought.  The  women  and  children  had  come. 
A  pack  of  wolves  could  hardly  have  made  a  greater  or 
more  discordant  din.  We  went  to  dinner,  and,  after  that, 
lay  down  to  rest  a  while ;  but  when  we  went  on  deck 
again  at  three,  P.M.,  "he  crowd  was  still  there,  in  greater 
numbers  than  before 


148  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"I  wonder  what  they  can  be  waiting  for  so  long,"  said 
Wade. 

There  was  little  or  no  wind,  or  we  should  have  weighed 
anchor  and  made  off.  After  watching  them  a  while 
longer,  we  wen4:  down  to  read.  But,  about  four,  the  cap- 
tain called  us.  We  went  up. 

"  That  was  what  they  were  waiting  for,"  said  he,  point- 
ing off  the  starboard  quarter. 

About  a  mile  below  the  place  where  the  Esquimaux 
were  collected,  a  whole  fleet  of  kayaks  were  coming  along 
the  shore. 

"Waiting  for  their  boats,"  remarked  the  captain. 

"  They're  coming  off  to  us ! " 

"  Do  you  suppose  they  really  have  hostile  intentions  ?  n 
Raed  asked. 

"  From  their  movements  on  shore,  and  their  shouts 
and  howls,  I  should  say  that  it  was  not  impossible.  No 
knowing  what  notions  they've  got  into  their  heads  about 
the  'black  man.'" 

"  Likely  as  not  their  priests,  if  they've  got  any,  have 
told  them  they  ought  to  attack  us,"  said  Wade. 

"  There  are  fifty-seven  of  those  kayaks  and  three  oo- 
miaks  coming  along  the  shore  ! "  said  Kit,  who  had  been 
watching  them  with  a  glass. 

"  Hark !  The  crowd  on  shore  have  caught  sight  of 
them !  What  a  yelling ! " 

"  I  do  really  believe  they  mean  to  attack  us,"  Raed 
observed.  "This  must  be  some  nasty  superstition  on 
their  part ;  some  of  their  religious  nonsense." 

"  Well,  we  shall  have  to  defend  ourselves,"  said  Kit. 

"Of  course,  we  sha'n't  let  them  board  us,"  replied 
Wade. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  149 

"  Poor  fools !  "  continued  Kaed.     "  It  would  be  too 
bad  if  we  have  to  kill  any  of  them." 

"  Can't  we  frighten  them  out  of  it  in  some  way  ?  "  I 
inquired. 

"Might  fire  on  them  with  the  howitzer,"  Kit  sug- 
gested, "  with  nothing  but  powder." 

"  That  would  only  make  them  bolder,  when  they  saw 
that  nothing  came  out  of  it,"  said  Capt.  Hazard. 

"Put  in  a  ball,  then,"  said  Kit. 

"  That  would  be  as  bad  as  shooting  them  here  along- 
side." 

"  It  might  be  fired  so  as  not  to  be  very  likely  to  hit 
them,"  said  Kaed.  "  Couldn't  it,  Wade  ?  " 

"  Yes, :  might  put  in  a  small  charge,  and  skip  the  ball 
ricochet  it  along  the  water." 

"  Let's  try  it,"  said  Kit. 

The  howitzer  was  pushed  across  to  the  starboard  side. 

"Kemember  that  there's  a  pretty  heavy  charge  in 
there  now,"  said  Wade.  "  Better  send  that  over  their 
heads ! " 

The  gun  was  accordingly  elevated  to  near  thirty 
degrees.  Raed  then  touched  it  off.  The  Esquimaux, 
of  course,  heard  the  report ;  but  I  doubt  if  they  saw  or 
heard  any  tiling  of  the  ball.  It  doubtless  went  a 
thousand  feet  over  their  heads ;  and  just  then,  too,  the 
kayaks  and  oomiaks  canio  up  where  they  were  stand- 
ing, and  a  great  hubbub  was  occasioned  by  their  arrival. 

"  Try  'em  again  ! "  exclaimed  Donovan. 

"  Give  them  a  skipping  shot  this  time,"  said  Wade. 

A  light  charge  of  powder  was  then  put  in,  with  a  ball, 
as  before.  The  gun  was  not  elevated  this  time ;  in- 


150  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

deed,  I  believe  K/aed  depressed  it  a  few  degrees.  We 
watched  with  a  great  deal  of  curiosity,  if  nothing 
more,  while  Kit  lighted  a  splint  and  touched  the  prim- 
ing. A  sharp,  light  report;  and,  a  second  later,  the 
ball  struck  on  the  water  off  four  or  five  hundred  yards, 
and  ricochetted,  —  skip  —  skip  —  skip  —  skip  —  spat 
into  the  loose  shingle  on  the  beach,  making  the  small 
stones  and  gravel  fly  in  all  directions.  The  Huskies 
jumped  away  lively.  Very  likely  the  pebbles  flew  with 
some  considerable  violence.  But  in  a  moment  they 
were  swarming  about  the  kayaks  again,  uttering  loud 
cries.  With  the  re-enforcement  they  had  just  received, 
they  numbered  full  a  hundred  or  a  hundred  and  fifty 
men.  Should  they  make  a  determined  effort  to  board 
us,  we  might  have  our  hands  full,  or  at  least  have  to 
shoot  a  score  or  two  of  the  poor  ignorant  wretches ; 
which  seemed  a  pitiable  alternative. 

"  Load  again  ! "  cried  Wade.     "  Let  rne  try  a  shot !  " 

About  the  same  quantity  of  powder  was  used  as 
before.  Wade  did  not  depress  the  muzzle,  if  I  recollect 
aright,  at  all.  Consequently,  on  firing,  the  ball  did  not 
touch  the  water  till  near  the  shore,  when  it  skipped  once, 
and  bounded  to  the  beach,  going  among  a  whole  pack  of 
the  howling  dogs.  A  dreadful  "Ti-yi"  came  wafted  to 
our  ears.  One,  at  least,  had  been  hit.  With  a  glass  we 
could  see  him  writhing  and  jumping  about.  At  this 
some  of  the  crowd  ran  off  up  the  ledges  for  several  rods, 
and  stood  gazing  anxiously  off  toward  the  schooner. 

"Give  'em  another!  "  exclaimed  the  captain. 

But,  while  we  were  loading,  twenty  or  thirty  got  into 
their  kayaks;  and  one  of  the  oomiaks  had  eight  or  ten  in 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  151 

it  ere  Wade  was  ready  to  give  them  a  third  shot.  He 
depressed  it  three  degrees  this  time.  The  ball  hit  the 
water  about  half  way  to  the  shore,  and,  skipping  on, 
struck  under  the  stem  of  a  kayak,  throwing  it  into  the  air, 
and,,  glancing  against  the  side  of  the  skin-clad  oomiak*, 
dashed  it  over  and  over.  The  crew  were  pitched  head- 
long into  the  water.  Pieces  of  the  bone  framework  flew 
up.  The  skin  itself  seemed  to  have  been  turned  wrong 
side  out. 

"  Knocked  it  into  a  cocked  hat ! "  exclaimed  Kit. 

"  I  hope  none  <?f  them  were  killed,"  said  Raed. 

"  I  can't  see  that  any  of  them  were,"  remarked  the 
captain.  "  They've  all  scrambled  out,  I  believe.  But  it 
has  scared  them  properly.  Lord !  just  see  them  hake  it, 
as  Palmleaf  says,  up  those  rocks !  Give  'em  another 
before  they  get  over  this  scare.  Knock  their  old  kayaks 
to  pieces  :  that  frightens  them  worst  of  any  thing.  Let 
me  have  a  shot." 

Reloading,  the  captain  fired,  smashing  one  end  of 
'another  oomiak.  Men,  women,  and  dogs  had  taken  to 
their  heels,  and  were  scampering  off  among  the  hillocks. 
Kit  then  fired  a  ball  at  an  elevation  of  twenty  degrees, 
which,  went  roaring  over  their  heads :  we  saw  them  all 
looking  up,  then  haking  it  for  dear  life. 

u  .Routed  ! "  exclaimed  Kaed.  "  No  blood  shed  either, 
except  that  dog's." 

"Poor  puppy!"  said  Wade.  "I  can  see  him  lying 
there.  Wonder  it  hadn't  hit  some  of  them." 

"  Well,  it's  the  best  thing  we  could  do,"  said  Kit. 
"  Even  if  some  of  them  had  been  hit,  it  would  be  better 
than  fighting  them  out  here." 


152  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Still,  I  am  very  glad  not  to  have  slaughtered  any  of 
the  poor  creatures,"  remarked  Raed. 

"  Don't  say  too  much ;  they  may  come  back,"  Capt. 
Mazard  observed. 

But,  though  there  was  not  sufficient  wind  to  enable 
us  to  get  away  till  three  o'clock  the  next  day,  we  saw 
nothing  more  of  them. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Dip  of  the  Needle.— The  North  Magnetic  Pole.  —  A  Kayak  Bottom  up. 
with  its  Owner  Head  down.  —  Ice-Patches.  —  Anchoring  to  an  Ice-Floe.  — 
A  Bear-Hunt  in  the  Fog. — Bruin  charges  his  Enemies. — Soundings. — 
The  Depth  of  the  Straits. 

BEFORE  we  were  up  next  morning  "  The  Curlew  " 
was  on  her  way. 

A  great  number  of  small  islands,  not  even  indicated 
on  our  chart,  compelled  us  to  veer  to  the  southward  dur- 
ing the  forenoon. 

For  several  days  the  needle  of  our  compass  had  been 
giving  us  some  trouble  by  its. strong  inclination  to  dip. 
Three  times,  since  starting,  we  had  been  obliged  to  move 
the  sliding  weight  out  a  little  on  the  bar.  The  farther 
north  we  got,  the  stronger  was  the  tendency  of  the  north 
pole,  or  end  of  the  needle,  to  point  downward,  and  the 
south  pole  to  rise  up  correspondingly.  By  running  the 
sliding  weight  out  a  little  toward  the  south  pole,  its 
leverage  was  increased,  and  the  parallel  position  restored. 
This  was  what  Capt.  Mazard  was  doing  when  we  went 
on  deck  that  morning. 

"  How  do  you  account  for  this  dipping  of  the  needle  ?  " 
he  asked  Raed. 

"  By  the  present  theory  of  magnetism,  the  earth  itself 

153 


154  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

is  considered  to  be  a  magnet  with  twc  poles,"  replied 
Raed.  "  These  poles  attract  and  repel  the  corresponding 
poles  of  a  magnetic  needle,  just  as  another  large  needle 
would.  The  nearer  we  get  up  to  the  north  magnetic 
pole  of  the  earth,  the  more  the  pole  of  our  needle  is  pulled 
down  toward  it.  We're  not  such  a  great  distance  from 
it  now.  What's  our  latitude  this  morning  ?  " 

"63°  27V 

"Capt.  Boss,  in  the  expedition  of  1829,  made  out  the 
earth's  north  magnetic  pole  to  be  in  70°  north  latitude, 
farther  west,  in  the  upper  part  of  Hudson  Bay.  At 
that  place  he  reports  that  a  magnetic  needle,  suspend- 
ed so  that  it  turned  easily,  pointed  directly  down- 
ward." V 

"We've  got  a  needle  hung  in  a  graduated  scale  down 
stairs,"  remarked  Kit. 

We  had  nearly  forgotten  it,  however. 

"Bring  it  up,"  said  Raed. 

Wade  went  after  it. 

It  was  set  on  the  deck,  and,  after  vibrating  a  few 
seconds,  came  to  rest  at  a  dip  of  about  83°. 

"If  we  were  up  at  the  point  Capt.  Ross  reached,  it 
would  point  directly  down,  or  at  90°,  I  suppose,"  said 
Kit. 

"  That's  what  he  reported,"  said  Raed.  "  There's  no 
reason  to  doubt  it." 

"  But  where  is  the  south  pole  ?  "  Wade  asked. 

"That  has  never  been  exactly  reached,"  said  Raed. 
"  It  is  supposed  to  be  in  75°,  south  latitude,,  south  of 
New  Holland,  in  the  Southern  Ocean.  A  point  has 
been  reached  where  the  dip  is  88§°,  however." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  155 

"  Of  course  this  magnetic  pole  that  Ross  found  in  70C 
is  not  the  bond  fide  north  pole  of  the  earth,''  Wade 
observed. 

"Oh,  no!"  said  the  captain.  "The  genuine  north 
pole  is  not  so  easily  reached." 

"It's  curious  what  this  magnetic  attraction  is,"  said 
Kit  reflectively. 

"  It  is  now  considered  to  be  the  same  thing  as  elec- 
tricity, is  it  not  ?  "  I  asked. 

"  Yes,"  replied  Kit ;  "  but  whether  they  are  a  fluid  or 
a  force  is  not  so  clear.  Tyndall  and  Faraday  think  they 
are  a  sort  of  force" 

"  It  is  found  that  this  dip  of  the  needle,  or,  in  other 
words,  the  position  of  the  magnetic  poles,  varies  with 
the  amount  of  heat  which  the  earth  receives  from  the 
sun,"  remarked  Raed.  "We  know  that  heat  can  be 
changed  into  electricity,  and,  consequently,  into  mag- 
netism. So,  at  those  seasons  of  the  year  when  the  earth 
receives  least  sun-heat,  there  i»  least  electric  and  mag- 
netic force." 

"That  only  confirms  me  in  my  belief  that  the 
luininiferous  ether  through  which  light  and  heat  come 
from  the  sun  is  really  the  electric  and  magnetic  element 
itself,"  remarked  Kit ;  "  that  strange  fluid  which  runs 
through  the  earth  as  water  does  through  a  sponge,  mak- 
ing currents,  the  direction  of  which  are  indicated  by 
these  magnetic  poles.  The  same  silent  fluid  which 
makes  this  needle  point  down  to  the  deck  makes  the 
telegraphic  instrument  click,  makes  the  northern  lights, 
and  makes  the  lightning." 

"  I  agree  with  you  exactly,"  said  R-aed. 


J56  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

It's  no  use  talking  with  these  two  fellows :  they've 
made  a  regular  hobby  of  this  thing,  and  ride  it  every 
chance  they  get. 

Prince  Henry's  Foreland,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
straits,  was  in  sight  at  noon,  distant,  we  presumed,  •— 
from  our  estimate  of  the  width  of  the  passage  at  this 
place,  —  about  eleven  leagues.  It  is  a  high,  bold  promon- 
tory of  the  south  main  of  Labrador.  At  this  distance 
it  rises  prominently  from  the  sea.  The  glass  shows  it  to 
be  bare,  and  destitute  of  vegetation.  By  two  o'clock, 
P.M.,  we  had  passed  the  scattered  islets,  and  bore  up 
toward  the  north  main  again  to  avoid  the  floating  ice. 
At  five  we,  were  running  close  under  a  single  high 
island  of  perhaps  an  acre  in  extent,  and  rising  full  a 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  when  old  Trull,  who  was  in 
the  bows,  called  sharply  to  the  man  at  the  wheel  to  put 
the  helm  a-starboard. 

"What's  that  for?"  shouted  the  captain,  who  was 
standing  near  the  binnade. 

"  Come  and  take  a  look  at  this,  sur,"  replied  the  old 
man. 

Kit  and  I  were  just  coming  up  the  companion-stairs, 
and  ran  forward  with  the  captain.  A  long,  leather- 
colored  fish,  as  we  thought  at  first,  was  floating  just 
under  the  starboard  bow. 

"  Thought  it  was  a  low  ledge,"  said  the  old  man.  "  I 
see  'twan't  a  moment  after.  I  take  that  t<>  be  a  sea- 
sarpent,  sur." 

As  the  object  was  certainly  twenty  feet  long,  and  not 
more  than  a  foot  and  a  hajf  in  diameter,  Trull's  supposi- 
tion had  the  benefit  of  outside  resemblance.  The  cap- 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  157 

tain  seized  one  of  the  pike-poles,  and  made  a  jab  at  it ; 
but  the  schooner,  under  full  headway,  had  passed  it  too 
far. 

"Get  a  musket!"  shouted  Kit. 

We  all  made  a  rush  down  stairs  for  the  gun-rack. 
Only  three  were  loaded.  Catching  up  one  of  these,  I 
ran  up. 

"  Off  astern  there  ! "  cried  Weymouth. 

We  were  already  fifty  yards  away;  but,  getting  a 
glimpse  of  it,  I  fired.  There  was  no  movement. 

"  Missed  him ! "  exclaimed  Wade.     "  I'll  bore  him  !  " 

He  fired.     Still  there  was  no  apparent  motion. 

"  Miss  number  two,"  said,  I. 

Kit  then  took  a  careful  aim,  and  banged  away.  The 
creature  didn't  stir. 

"  Number  three,"  laughed  Wade. 

"  That  fish  must  either  bear  a  charmed  life,  or  else  it's 
ball-proof!"  Kit  exclaimed. 

Meanwhile  "The  Curlew"  was  being  brought  round. 
The  captain  was  getting  interested.  Raed  brought  up 
one  of  our  long  cod-lines  with  the  grapnel  on  it,  — the 
same  contrivance  with  which  old  Trull  had  drawn  in 
the  boat  some  days  before  ;  and,  on  getting  back  within 
twenty  yards,  he  threw  it  off.  It  struck  into  the  water 
beyond,  and,  on  being  drawn  in,  played  over  the  back  of 
the  leathern  object  till  one  of  the  hooks  caught  fast. 
Still  there  was  no  movement. 

"  There  can't  be  any  life  in  it,"  said  Wade. 

Raed  pulled  in  slowly,  the  captain  assisting  him,  till 
they  had  drawn  it  up  under  the  bows.  It  certainly 
looked  as  much  like  a  sea-serpent  as  any  thing  yet.  A 


158  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

strong  line,  with  another  grapple,  was  then  lot  down, 
and  hooked  into  it  with  a  jerk.  Donovan  and  Hobbs 
tugged  away  at  it ;  one  foot  —  two  feet  —  three  feet. 

"Humph!"  exclaimed  the  captain.  "One  of  those 
Husky  kayaks  !  " 

Four  feet — five  feet  —  six  feet.  Something  rose  with 
it,  dripping  underneath. 

"  Good  Heavens ! "  exclaimed  Raed,  turning  away. 

"There's  an  Esquimau  in  it,  hanging  head  down!" 
cried  Kit. 

The  sailors  crowded  round.  It  was  a  ghastly  sight. 
The  legs  of  the  corpse  were  still  fast  inside  the  little  hoop 
around  the  hole  in  the  deck. in  which  the  man  had  sat. 
His  arms  hung  down  limp  and  dripping.  His  long 
black  hair  streamed  with  water.  He  might  have  been 
floating  there  head  down  for  a  week. 

"  Wai,  I  shouldn't  s'pose  the  darn' d  fool  need  to  have 
expected  any  thing  else  ! "  exclaimed  Corliss.  "  To  go  to 
sea  with  his  feet  fast  in  such  a  little  skite  of  a.  craft  as 
that!  Might  ha'  known  the  darned  thing  'ud  'a'  cap- 
sized an'  drownded  him." 

"What  shall  we  do  with  it?"  I  asked.  "We  might 
sink  it  with  three  or  four  of  those  six-pound  shot,  I  sup- 
pose." 

"No,  no!"  exclaimed  Wade.  "We  can't  afford  six- 
pound  shots  to  bury  the  heathen :  it's  as  much  as  we 
can  do  to  get  enough  to  kill  them  with." 

"  Oh,  don't,  Wade  !"  said  Raed.  "  It's  a  sad  sight  at 
best." 

"  Of  course  it  is.  But  then  we've  only  got  seventeen 
balls  left,  and  no  knowing  how  many  battles  to  fight." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  159 

This  last  argument  was  a  clincher. 

"  Let  go  ! "  ordered  the  captain. 

Don  and  Hobbs  snook  the  line  violently,  but  cculdn't 
tear  out  the  grapple  from  the  tough  seal-skin. 

"  Well,  let  go  line  and  all.  then ! "  cried  the  cap- 
tain. 

With  a  dull  plash  the  kayak  fell  back  into  the  sea ; 
and  we  all  turned  away. 

At  midnight  the  ice-patches  were  thickening  rapidly ; 
and  by  two  o'clock  all  sail  had  to  be  taken  in,  the  bumps 
had  grown  so  frequent  and  heavy.  On  the  port  side  lay 
a  large  ice-floe  of  many  acres  extent.  The  schooner 
gradually  drifted  up  to  it.  Kaed  and  Kit  had  gone  on 
deck. 

"  I  think  we  may  as  well  make  fast  to  it,"  I  heard  the 
captain  say ;  and,  a  moment  later,  the  order  was  given  to 
get  out  the  ice-anchors. 

Wade,  and  I  then  went  up.  "  The  Curlew  '•'  lay  broad- 
side against  the  floe.  The  wind,  with  a  current  caused 
perhaps  by  the  tide,  held  us  up  to  it  so  forcibly,  that  the 
vessel  careened  slightly.  Weyinouth  and  Hobbs  were 
getting  down  on  to  the  ice  with  the  ice-chisels  in  their 
hands,  and,  going  off  twenty  or  thirty  yards,  began  to 
cut  holes.  The  ice-anchors  were  then  thrown  over  on  to 
the  floe.  To  each  of  them  was  bent  one  of  our  two-and- 
a-half-inch  hawsers.  The  anchors  themselves  were,  as 
will  probably  be  remembered,  simply  large,  strong  grap- 
nels. Dragging  them  along  to  the  holes,  they  were 
hooked  into  the  ice,  and  the  hawsers  drawn  in  tight 
from  deck.  Planks,  secured  to  the  rail  by  lines,  were 
then  run  down  to  bear  the  chafe.  This  was  our  process 


160  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

of  anchoring  to  ice.  Sometimes  three  or  four  grapnels 
were  used  when  the  tendency  to  swing  off  was  greater. 
To-night  there  was  so  much  floating  ice  all  about,  that 
the  swell  was  almost  entirely  broken,  and  the  schooner 
lay  as  quiet  as  if  in  a  country  lake.  A  watch  was  set, 
and  we  turned  in  again. 

Breakfast  at  six.  Fog  thick  and  flat  on  the  i^e.  The 
breeze  in  the  night,  blowing  against  the  schooner,  had 
turned  the  ice-field  completely  round.  Occasionally  a 
cake  of  ice  would  bump  up  against  us.  We  could  heai 
them  grinding  together  all  about;  yet  the  wind  was 
light,  otherwise  we  might  have  had  heavier  thumps. 
About  seven  o'clock  we  heard  a  splashing  out  along  the 
floe. 

"  Seals ! "  remarked  the  captain. 

"  Bet  you,  I'll  have  one  of  those  fellows ! "  exclaimed 
Donovan,  catching  up  a  pike-pole,  and  dropping  over 
the  rail. 

"  Can  he  get  near  enough  to  kill  them  with  a  pole, 
suppose  ?  "  Wade  queried. 

"  That's  the  way  the  sealers  kill  them,"  replied  the 
captain.  "  Send  the  men  out  on  the  ice  with  nothing 
but  clubs  and  knives.  The  seals  can't  move  very  fast : 
nothing  but  their  flippers  to  help  themselves  with.  The 
men  run  along  the  edges  of  the  ice,  and  get  between 
them  and  the  water.  The  seals  make  for  the  water ;  and 
the  men  knock  them  on  the  heads  with  clubs,  and  then 
butcher  them." 

"  It's  a  horribly  bloody  business,  I  should  think,"  said 
Baed. 

"Well,  not  so  bad  as  a  Brighton  slaughter-pen,  quite," 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  161 

rejoined  the  captain.  "  But  I  never  much  admired  it,  I 
must  confess." 

Just  then  Donovan  came  racing  out  of  the  fog,  and, 
jumping  for  the  rail,  drew  his  legs  up  as  if  he  believed 
them  in  great  peril. 

"  What  ails  you  ?  "  Kit  cried  out.  "  What  are  you 
running  from  ?" 

"  Oh  !  nothing  —  much,"  replied  Donovan,  panting. 
"  Met  —  a  —  bear  out  here :  that's  all." 

"  Met  a  bear ! "  exclaimed  Raed. 

"Yes.  I  was  going  along,  trying  to  get  by  some  of 
the  seals.  All  at  once  I  was  face  to  face  with  a  mighty 
great  chap,  on  the  same  business  with  myself,  I  suppose. 
Thought  I  wouldn't  wait.  He  looked  pretty  big.  I'd 
nothing  but  the  pole,  you  know." 

"  We  must  have  him  1^'  exclaimed  Wade. 

"Best  way  will  be  to  let  down  the  boat,  and  work 
round  the  floe  to  prevent  his  taking  to  the  water,"  ad- 
vised the  captain.  "They  will  swim  like  ducks  three 
or  four  miles  at  a  time." 

While  the  bout  was  being  let  down,  Kit  and  I  ran  to 
load  the  muskets. 

"  I'm  going  to  put  the  bayonets  on  our  two,"  said  Kit 
"  They'll  be  handy  if  we  should  corno  to  close  quarters 
with  him." 

Kaed  and  Wade,  with  the  captain,  were  getting  ready 
to  go  out  on  the  ice.  Weymouth  and  Hobbs  were  Al- 
ready in  the  boat.  Kit  and  I  followed. 

"Now  be  very  careful  about  firing  in  this  fog,"  the 
captain  ca^ed  after  us.  "  We  are  going  off  to  the  right, 
round  the  edge  of  the  floe  on  that  side.  You  keep  off 
n 


162  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

on  the  left  to  see  that  he  don't  escape  that  way.  Head 
him  up  toward  the  schooner  if  you  can ;  but  look  out 
how  you  shoot." 

Old  Trull  and  Corliss,  each  with  a  gun,  had  been  sta- 
tioned at  the  rail  to  shoot  the  bear  from  the  deck  if  he 
should  come  out  in  sight. 

Thus  arranged,  we  pulled  away,  veering  in  and  out 
among  the  ice-patches,  and  keeping  about  twenty  yards 
from  the  floe.  We  could  just  see  the  edge  of  it  rising  a 
few  feet  from  the  water. 

"  Guess  the  bear  run  from  Don  after  all  his  fright," 
said  Weymouth  when  we  had  gone  a  hundred  yards  or 
more. 

He  was  not  on  our  side,  we  felt  pretty  sure ;  and,  a 
few  minutes  later,  Guard  barked,  and  we  heard  the  cap- 
tain shouting  from  across  the  field,  — 

"  Here  he  is  over  here ! "  And  a  moment  after,  "  Gone 
over  towards  your  side  !  Look  out  for  him  !  " 

We  looked  out  as  sharply  as  we  could  for  fog :  never- 
theless, the  first  notice  we  got  of  his  arrival  in  our 
vicinity  was  a  splash  into  the  water  several  rods  farther 
on. 

"  Give  way  sharp,"  shouted  Kit,  "  or  we  shall  lose 
him ! " 

The  boat  leaped  under  the  strong  stroke  ;  and,  a  mo- 
ment after,  we  saw  the  bear  climbing  out  on  to  a  cake, 
which  tipped  up  as  he  got  on  to  it. 

"  Give  him  your  shot,  Wash  ! "  Kit  exclaimed. 

We  were  not  more  than  fifty  feet  away.  I  aimed  for 
his  head,  and  let  go.  The  bullet  clipped  one  of  his  ears 
merely,  and  he  turnei  round,  with  a  dreadfully  savage 


LEFT  ON   LABRADOR.  163 

growl.  Of  course  it  was  a  bad  shot ;  but  some  allow- 
ance must  be  made  for  the  rocking  of  the  boat.  As  he 
turned  to  us,  the  ice-cake  tipped  and  rolled  under  him. 
nearly  throwing  him  off;  at  which  he  growled  and 
barked  out  all  the  louder.  Kit  hesitated  to  fire. 

"He  might  make  a  break,  and  get  his  paws  on  to  the 
boat  before  we  could  back  off,  if  you  shouldn't  kill  him," 
said  Hobbs. 

"  Load  as  quick  as  you  can,  Wash,"  Kit  said.  "  I'll 
wait  till  we  have  a  reserve  shot." 

Meanwhile  we  heard  voices  coming  out  on  the  floe. 
Guard  began  to  bark  again,  and  came  jumping  from 
cake  to  cake  out  within  a  few  rods  of  the  bear,  and 
rather  between  us  and  him. 

"Be  ready,  now,"  said  Kit;  when  some  one  of  the 
party  on  the  floe  fired  on  a  sudden. 

Instantly  the  bear  jumped  for  the  dog ;  and  the  dog, 
turning,  leaped  for  a  little  cake  between  him  and  the 
boat.  The  bear  splashed  through,  and  gained  the  cake 
Guard  had  stood  on. 

Crack  —  crack  !  from  the  floe. 

The  bear  growled  frightfully  as  he  felt  the  bullets, 
and  plunged  after  the  dog.  We  both  fired  as  he  went 
down  into  the  water.  Guard's  paws  were  already  on 
the  gunwale,  when  the  bear  rose,  head  and  paws,  and 
swept  the  dog  down  with  him,  souse  !  A  howl  and  a 
growl  mingled.  The  water  was  streaked  red  with  the 
bear's  blood.  The  captain  and  Wade  and  Donovan 
eame  leaping  out  from  one  fragment  to  another.  Up 
popped  the  dog's  black  head.  Something  bumped  the 
bottom  of  the  boat  simultaneously.  The  bear  had  coma 


164  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

up  under  us,  and  floated  out  on  the  port  side,  —  a  great 
mass  of  dripping,  struggling  white  hair.  Everybody 
was  shouting  now.  Wade  fired.  Bits  of  blazing  car- 
tridge-paper flew  into  our  faces.  Kit  and  I  thrust  wildly 
with  our  bayonets  ;  but  the  poor  beast  had  already  ceased 
all  offensive  warfare.  He  was  dead  enough.  But  who 
had  killed  him  it  was  hard  saying.  No  less  than 
seven  bullets  had  been  fired  into  him  from  "  a  standard 
weapon,"  as  Wade  calls  our  muskets.  We  towed  the 
carcass  up  to  the  edge  of  the  floe,  and  pulled  it  up. 
The  captain  estimated  its  gross  weight  to  be  from  four 
hundred  and  fifty  to  five  hundred  pounds.  This  waa 
the  largest  one  we  had  killed.  Donovan  and  Weymouth 
and  Hobbs  were  occupied  the  rest  of  the  forenoon  skin- 
ning it. 

It  being  a  favorable  opportunity,  we  improved  it  to 
make  soundings.  From  where  we  lay  moored  to  the 
floe,  the  nearest  island  was  about  three  leagues  to  the 
east,  and  the  northern  main  from  ten  to  twelve  miles. 
For  sounding  we  had  a  twenty-four-pound  iron  weight, 
with  a  staple  leaded  into  it  for  the  line.  Dropping  it 
out  of  the  stern,  we  ran  out  a  hundred  and  seventy- 
three  fathoms  before  it  slacked.  The  depth  of  the  strait 
at  that  place  was  given  at  ten  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
feet.  I  should  add,  that  this  was  considerably  deeper 
than  we  had  found  it  below  that  point. 


CHAPTER    XL 


Isle  Aktok."  — A  Sea-Horse  and  a  Sea-Horse  Hunt. —In  High  Spirit*.— 
Sudden  Interruption  of  the  Hunt.  —  A  Heavy  Gun.  —  The  Race  to  the 
Ledge- Tops. — Too  Late.  — A  Disheartening  Spectacle.  —  Surprised  by  the 
Company's  Ship.  —  The  Schooner  in  Peril.  —  Capt.  Mazard  bravely  waits. 
The  Flight  of  "  The  Curlew  "  amid  a  Shower  of  Balls.  —The  Chase.  —  Left 
on  the  Islet.  —  A  Gloomy  Prospect.  —  "What  shall  we  have  for  Grub  to 
atel"—  Wild-Geese.—  Egging.  —  "Jloom!"  —  A  Sea-Horse  Fire. 


r  I  COWARD  night  the  wind  changed  to  north,  and 
_L_  thinned  out  the  pdftch-ice,  driving  it  southward,  so 
that  by  ten  o'clock,  evening,  we  were  able  to  get  in  our  ice- 
anchors  and  make  sail,  continuing  our  voyage,  and  making 
about  four  knots  an  hour  till  nine  o'clock  next  morning, 
when  we  were  off  a  small  island,  the  first  of  a  straggling 
group  on  the  south  side  of  the  strait.  South-east  of  this 
islet  was  another  large  island,  which  we  at  first  mistook  for 
the  south  main,  but,  after  comparing  the  chart,  concluded 
that  it  was  "  Isle  Aktok. "  To  the  north  the  mainland, 
'-vith  its  fringe  of  ledgy  isles,  was  in  sight,  distant  not  far 
from  thirteen  leagues.  We  had  been  bearing  southward 
considerably  all  night,  falling  off  from  the  wind,  which 
was  north-west.  We  were  now,  as  nearly  as  we  could 
reckon  it  up,  a  hundrel  and  nineteen  leagues  inside  the 
entrance  of  the  straits  at  Cape  Resolution.  Raed  and 


106  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

I  were  below  making  a  sort  of  map  of  the  straits,  look- 
ing over  the  charts,  &c.,  when  Kit  came  running  down. 

"  There's  a  sea-horse  off  here  on  the  island  !  "  said  he. 

"A  sea-horse  !  "  exclaimed  Raed. 

<e  A  walrus  !  "  I  cried ;  for  we  had  not,  thus  far,  got 
sight  of  one  of  these  creatures,  though  we  had  expected 
to  find  them  in  numbers  throughout  the  straits.  But,  so 
far  as  our  observation  goes,  they  are  very  rare  there. 

Taking  our  glasses,  we  ran  hastily  up.  Wade  was 
looking  off. 

"  Out  there  where  the  ice  is  jammed  in  against  this 
lower  end  of  the  island,"  directed  Kit. 

The  distance  was  about  a  mile. 

"  Don't  you  see  that  great  black  bunch  lying  among 
the  ice  there  ?  "  continued  he.  "  See  his  white  tusks  ! " 

Bringing  our  keen  little  telescopes  to  bear,  we  soon  had 
him  up  under  our  noses,  —  a  great,  dark- hided,  clumsy 
beast,  with  a  hideous  countenance  and  white  tusks  ;  not 
so  big  as  an  elephant's,  to  be  sure,  but  big  enough  to  give 
their  possessor  a  very  formidable  appearance. 

"  Seems  to  be  taking  his  •  ease  there,"  said  Wade. 
"  Same  creature  that  the  old  writers  call  a  morse,  isn't 
it?" 

"  I  believe  so,"  replied  Raed. 

"  Wonder  if  our  proper  name,  Morse,  is  from  that  ?  " 
said  I. 

"  Shouldn't  wonder,"  said  Kit.  "  Many  of  our  best 
family  names  are  from  a  humbler  origin  than  that.  But 
we  must  improve  this  chance  to  hunt  that  old  chap  :  may 
not  get  another.  And  it  won't  do,  nohow,  to  come  clean 
up  here  to  Hudson  Bay  and  not  go  sea-horse-hunting 
once." 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  167 

"  Eight,  my  boy ! "  cried  Baed.  "  Captain,  we  want  to 
go  on  a  walrus-hunt.  Can  the  schooner  be  brought 
round,  and  the  boat  manned  for  that  purpose  ?  " 

"Certainly,  sir.  'The  Curlew'  is  at  your  service,  as 
also  her  boat." 

"  Then  let  me  invite  you  to  participate  in  the  exer- 
cise," said  Kaed,  laughing. 

"  Nothing  would  suit  me  better.  But  as  the  wind  is 
fresh,  and  the  schooner  liable  to  drift,  I  doubt  if  it  will 
be  prudent  for  me  to  leave  her  so  long.  You  have  my 
best  wishes  for  your  success,  however.  I  shall  watch  the 
chase  with  interest  through  my  glass ;  and,  better  still,  I 
will  see  that  Palmleaf  has  dinner  ready  at  your  return.  — 
Here,  Weymouth  and  Donovan,  let  down  the  boat,  and 
row  these  youthful  huntsmen  to  yonder  ice-bound  shore ! " 

Ah !  if  we  had  foreseen  the  results  of  that  hunt,  we 
should  scarcely  have  been  so  jocose,  I  fancy.  Well,  com- 
ing events  are  wisely  hidden  from  us,  they  say ;  but,  by 
jolly !  a  fellow  could  afford  to  pay  well  for  a  glimpse  at 
the  future  once  in  a  while. 

Each  of  us  boys  took  a  musket  and  eight  or  ten  car- 
tridges. I'm  not  likely  to  forget  what  we  took  with  us, 
in  a  hurry. 

"  We'll  put  the  bayonets  on,  I  guess,"  Kit  remarked. 
"  It's  a  big  lump  of  a  beast.  These  are  just  the  things 
for  giving  long-range  stabs  with." 

"  Don't  forget  the  caps ! "  cried  Raed,  already  half  way 
up  the  companion-way. 

The  wind  was  rather  raw  that  morning :  we  put  on  out 
thick  pea-jackets.  Weymouth  and  Don  were  already 
down  iu  the  boat,  which  they  had  brought  alongside. 


108  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Here,  Don,  stick  that  in  your  waistband ! "  exclaimed 
Kit,  who  had  come  up  last,  tossing  him  one  of  our  neM 
butcher-knives. 

"All  right,  sir!" 

"  Wish  you  would  give  me  a  musket,"  said  Weymouth. 

"  You  shall  have,  one ! "  cried  Wade,  running  back  for 
it. 

"  Come,  Guard  !  "  shouted  Kit.  "  Here,  sir  ! "  and  the 
shaggy  Newfoundland  came  bouncing  down  into  the 
boat. 

We  got  in  and  pulled  off. 

"  Make  for  that  little  cove  up  above  the  ice  where  the 
sea-horse  lies,"  directed  Raed.  "  We'll  land  there,  and 
then  creep  over  the  rocks  toward  him." 

Kit  caught  up  the  extra  paddle,  and  began  to  scull 
We  shot  over  the  waves ;  we  joked  and  laughed.  Some- 
how, we  were  all  as  merry  as  grigs  that  morning. 

Running  into  the  cove,  the  boat  was  pulled  up  from  the 
water,  and  securely  fastened.      Up  at  this  end  of  the 
.  straits  the  tide  did  not  rise  nearly  so  high,  —  not  more 
\than  eight  or  ten  feet  during  the  springs. 

"  Now  whisht !  "  said  Eaed,  taking  up  his  musket. 
"  Back,  Guard !  Still,  or  we  shall  frighten  the  old  gentle- 
man !  " 

"  He  was  lying  there  all  sedate  when  we  slid  into  the 
cove,"  said  Kit.  "  Asleep,  I  guess." 

"  We'll  wake  him  shortly,"  said  Wade.    "  But  you  say 
they  are  a  large  species  of  seal.     Won't  he  take  to  the 
'   water,  and  stay  under  any  length  of  time  ?  " 

"  Thatfs  it,  exactly,"  replied  Kit.  "  We  mustn't  let 
him  take  to  the  water  —  before  we  riddle  him." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR  169 

"But  they're  said  to  have  a  precious  tough  hide,"  said 
I.  "  Perhaps  we  can't  riddle  so  easy." 

"  Should  like  to  see  any  thing  in  the  shape  of  hide  that 
one  of  these  rifle  slugs  won't  go  through/'  replied  Kit. 

"  Sh-h-h  !  "  from  Raed,  holding  hack  a  warning  hand : 
he  was  a  little  ahead  of  us.  "  Creep  up  still !  Peep  by 
me  !  See  him !  By  Jove  !  he's  wiggling  off  the  ice  ! 
Jump  up  and  shoot  him  !  " 

We  sprang  up,  cocking  our  muskets,  just  in  time  to 
get  a  glimpse  and  hear  the  great  seal  splash  heavily  into 
the  sea.  Wade  and  Kit  fired  as  the  waters  buried  him ; 
Guard  rushed  past;  and  Donovan  bounded  down  the 
rocks,  butcher-knife  in  hand. 

"  Too  late ! "  exclaimed  Eaed. 

We  ran  down  to  the  spot.  The  water  went  off  deep 
from  the  ice  on  which  it  had  lain.  It  was  nowhere  in 
sight.  Dirt  and  gravel  had  been  scattered  out  on  to  the 
ice,  and  its  ordure  lay  about.  Evidently  this  was  one  of 
its  permanent  sunning-places. 

"  Get  back  among  the  rocks,  and  watch  for  him ! " 
exclaimed  Kit.  "  Only  thing  we  can  do  now." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Raed. 

We  secreted  ourselves  a  little  back  from  the  water 
behind  different  rocks  and  in  little  hollows,  and,  with 
guns  rested  ready  to  fire,  waited  for  the  re-appearance 
of  the  big  seal.  Five,  ten,  fifteen  minutes  passed ;  but 
he  didn't  re-appear  much. 

"  I  say,"  Wade  whispered  :  "  this  is  getting  a  little 
played  ! " 

We  were  all  beginning  to  think  so,  when  a  horrible 
uoise — a  sound  as  much  like  the  sudden  bellow  rf  a 


170  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

mad  bull  as  any  thing  I  can  compare  it  with  —  re- 
sounded from  the  other  side  of  the  island. 

"  What,  for  Heaven's  sake,  is  that  ?  "  Kit  exclaimed. 

"  Must  be  another  of  these  sea-horses  calling  to  the 
one  over  here,"  said  Kaed  after  listening  a  moment. 

"  Let's  work  round  there,  then,"  I  said. 

The  noise  seemed  to  have  been  four  or  five  hundred 
yards  off.  Keeping  the  dog  behind  us,  we  hurried 
round  by  the  east  shore  to  avoid  climbing  the  higher 
ledges,  which  rose  sixty  or  seventy  feet  along  the 
middle  of  the  islet.  These  bare,  flinty  ledges,  when  not 
encumbered  by  bowlders,  are  grand  things  to  run  on. 
One  can  get  over  them  at  an  astonishing  pace.  Once, 
as  we  ran  on,  we  heard  the  bellow  repeated,  and,  on 
coming  within  twenty  or  thirty  rods  of  where  it  had 
seemed  to  be,  stopped  to  reconnoitre. 

"  Bet  you,  he's  right  under  that  high  ledge  that  juts 
out  over  the  water  there,"  said  Kit. 

"  Wait  a  moment,"  whispered  Wade  :  "  we  may  hear 
him  again."  And,  in  fact,  before  his  words  were  well 
out,  the  same  deep,  harsh  sound  grumbled  up  from  the 
shore. 

"  Under  that  ledge,  as  I  guessed  !  "  exclaimed  Kit. 

"Sounds  like  an  enormous  bull-frog  intensified," 
Raed  muttered. 

We  crept  down  toward  the  brink  of  the  ledge,  Kit 
and  Wade  a  little  ahead.  Arriving  at  the  crest,  they 
peered  over  cautiously,  and  with  muskets  cocked. 

"  Here  he  is  !  "  Kit  whispered  back  of  his  hand. 

We  stole  up.  There,  on  a  little  bunch  of  ice  not  yet 
tJiawed  off  the  shore,  lay  the  unsuspecting  monster,  —  a 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  171 

great  brown-black,  unwieldy  body.  There  is  no  living 
creature  to  which  I  can  easily  compare  it.  I  should 
judge  it  would  have  weighed  a  ton, — more  perhaps; 
for  it  was  immensely  thick  and  broad:  though  the 
head  struck  me  as  very  small  for  its  bulk  otherwise. 

"Now,  all  together  !  "  whispered  Raed.  "  Aim  at  its 
body  above  and  back  of  its  forward  nippers.  Heady ! 
Fre!" 

We  let  drive.  The  great  creature  gave  a  hoarse 
grunt,  and,  raising  itself  on  its  finlike  legs,  floundered 
over  into  the  sea. 

"  Bound  the  ledge  ! "  shouted  Kit.  "  He  won't  get 
far,  I  don't  believe  !  " 

Guard  was  tearing  down,  barking  loudly;  and  we  had 
started  to  run,  when,  above  the  shouting  and  barking, 
the  sudden  boom  of  a  cannon  was  heard. 

"  Hark  !  "  cried  Weymouth. 

"  Hold  on,  hold  on,  fellows !  "  Raed  exclaimed. 

"  Wasn't  that  our  howitzer  ? "  Donovan  asked. 
"  Sounded  like  it." 

"  It's  the  cap'n  firing,  for  a  joke,  to  let  us  know  he 
heard  us,"  Weymouth  suggested. 

"  Oh !  he  wouldn't  do  that,"  replied  Raed. 

"  Of  course  he  wouldn't !  "  exclaimed  Donovan.  "  He 
ain't  that  sort  of  a  man  !  " 

"That's  a  summons!"  said  Wade,  coming  hurriedly 
back  up  the  rocks  ;  for  he  and  Kit  were  a  little  ahead. 
u  Put  for  the  top  of  the  ledges  up  here  !  We  can  see 
from  there ! " 

We  had  got  twenty  yards,  perhaps,  when  a  second 
loud  report  made  the  rocks  rattle  to  it. 


172  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  There's  trouble  !  "  exclaimed  Wade  at  my  heels-,  as 
we  climbed  up  the  steep  side. 

An  undefinable  fear  had  blanched  all  our  faces. 
Scarcely  had  the  echoes  of  the  gun  died  out  among  the 
crags  when 'another  heavier  report  made  the  islet  jar 
under  our  feet. 

"  Oh,  there  ! "  exclaimed  Raed  despairingly. 

Donovan  was  a  step  ahead ;  but  Kit  and  I  sprang 
past  him  now.  Another  shelving  incline  of  forty  or 
fifty  yards,  and  the  blue  sea  burst  into  view  over  the 
rocks.  My  eyes  burned  in-their  sockets  from  the  violent 
exertion.  At  first  I  saw  only  "  The  Curlew  "  with  her 
great  white  sails  both  broadside  to  us,  and  our  bright 
gay  flag  streaming  out.  A  glance  showed  that  she  had 
been  brought  round,  and  that  the  sails  were  flapping 
wildly.  A  jet  of  flame  streamed  out  from  her  side  ;  and, 
like  a  warning-call,  the  sharp  report  crashed  on  our  ears, 
infinitely  louder  now  we  had  gained  the  top.  All  this 
in  a  second. 

"  Why !  what  is  it  ?  "  I  exclaimed.  Turning,  I  saw 
them  all  staring  off  to  the  west. 

Heavens  !  There,  under  full  sail,  was  a  large  ship  not 
c\vo  miles  off!  How  like  the  shadow  of  doom  she 
loomed  up !  and  how  suddenly  white  the  faces  of  Kit 
and  Wade  just  beyond  me  looked  !  We  had  thought  we 
were  on  the  lookout  for  this  very  thing;  and  yet  it 
seem  od  to  us  now  a  complete  surprise.  We  wore 
stunned. 

JBang  !  A  heavy  cannon;  and  the  water  flew  up  in 
<i  long  white  streak  far  past  "  The  Curlew  "  as  the  big 
shot  wont  driving  by.  The  ship  was  within  a  mile  and 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  173 

a  half  of  her,  and  we  here  on  the  islet  three-fourths  of  a 
mile  away  !  Yet  there  stood  "  The  Curlew  "  motionless 
on  the  waves  ;  and  there  stood  Capt.  Mazard,  waving  his 
hat  for  us,  his  glass  glittering  in  his  other  hand. 

"To  the  boat !"  yelled  Weyinouth,  leaping  down  the 
rocks.  "  He  wouldn't  go  without  us !  " 

"  Stop  !  "  shouted  Eaed.  "  It's  no  use  !  Don't  you 
see  how  the  ship's  closing  in  ?  " 

Then,  catching  off  his  cap,  he  waved  it  slowly  toward 
the  east.  We  saw  the  captain's  glass  go  up  to  his  eye. 
Again  Eaed  motioned  him  to  go. 

Bang  !  A.  higher  shot.  It  strikes  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
ahead  of  the  schooner,  and  goes  skipping  on.  But  the 
captain  is  still  looking  off  to  us,  as  if  loath  to  desert 
us.  A  third  time  Eaed  waves  his  cap.  He  turns. 
Eound  go  the  booms.  "  The  Curlew  "  starts  off  with  a 
bound.  The  flag  streams  out  wildly  in  the  strong 
north-west  wind. 

Bang !  That  ball  hits  the  sea  a  long  way  ahead  of 
its  mark.  Even  in  these  brief  seconds  the  great 
shadowy  ship  has  come  perceptibly  nearer.  How  she 
bowls  along !  We  can  see  the  white  mass  of  foam  at 
the  bows  as  she  rides  up  the  swells. 

A  queer,  lost  feeling  had  come  over  me.  In  an 
instant  it  all  seemed  to  have  gone  on  at  a  far-past  date. 
Looking  back  to  that  time  now,  I  see,  as  in  a  picture, 
our  forlorn  little  party  standing  there  on  the  black, 
weathered  ledges,  gazing  off,  — Weymouth  half  a  dozen 
rods  do\in  the  rocks,  where  he  had  stopped  when  Eaed 
called  to  him ;  Donovan  a  few  rods  to  the  right,  shading 
his  oyes  with  his  hand  Eaed  with  his  arms  folded 


174  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

tightly ;  Kit  staring  hard  at  the  ship  ;  Wade  dancing 
about,  swearing  a  little,  with  the  tears  coming  into  his 
eyes ;  myself  leaning  weakly  on  a  musket,  limp  as  a 
shoe-string ;  and  poor  old  Guard  whining  dismally,  with 
an  occasional  howl,  —  all  gazing  off  at  the  rapidly- 
moving  vessels. 

"It  was  no  use,"  Raed  said,  his  voice  seeming  to 
break  the  spell.  "We  couldn't  have  got  off  to  the 
schooner.  See  how  swiftly  the  ship  comes  on  !  If  the 
captain  had  waited  for  us  to  pull  off,  or  even  started  up 
and  let  us  go  off  diagonally,  the  ship  would  have  come 
so  near,  that  there  would  have  been  no  escaping  her 
guns.  I  don't  know  as  there  is  now.  If  any  of  those 
shot  should  strike  the  masts,  or  tear  through  the  sails, 
there  would  be  no  getting  away. 

"  I  want  you  to  look  at  it  just  as  I  do,"  Eaed  con- 
tinued ;  for  we  none  of  us  had  said  a  word.  "  If  we 
had  tried  to  get  on  board,  '  The  Curlew '  would  certainly 
have  been  captured,  and  we  with  her.  Now  she  stands 
a  chance  of  getting  off." 

Bang !  What  a  tremendous  gun  !  The  large  ship 
was  getting  off  opposite.  The  report  made  the  ledge 
remble  under  us. 

"Hadn't  we  better  get  out  of  sight?"  Donovan  said. 
"  They  may  see  us,  and  send  a  boat  over  here." 

"  No  danger  of  that,  I  think,"  replied  Eaed.  "  They 
want  to  run  the  schooner  down,  and  wouldn't  care  to 
leave  their  boat  so  far  behind.  This  strong  north-west 
wind  favors  them.  Still  I  don't  think  they  are  gaining 
much.  They're  not  going  over  ten  or  eleven  knots. 
'The  Curlew'  will  beat  that,  I  hope, — if  none  of 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  175 

those  big  shots  hit  her,"  taking  out  his  glass.        How 
beautiful  she  looks  !  " 

"But,  Kaed,"  remarked  Kit  soberly,  "they  wj''  Aase 
her  clean  out  the  straits  into  the  Atlantic,  even  if  they 
do  not  capture  her." 

"  They  may." 

"And  she'll  be  rather  short-handed  for  men,"  ob- 
served Donovan. 

"  That's  too  true." 

"  Then  what  are  the  chances  of  her  getting  Lack  here 
for  us  ?  "  cried  Wade. 

Bang !  from  the  great  white  mass  of  bulging  canvas 
now  fairly  opposite  us.  The  smoke  drifted  out  of  her 
bows.  We  could  hear  the  rattle  of  her  blocks,  the 
swash  of  the  sea,  and  the  roar  of  sails ;  and,  quite  dis- 
tinct on  the  fresh  breeze,  the  gruff  commands  to  reload. 

"  Capt.  Hazard  won't  leave  us  here  if  he  lives  and 
has  his  liberty,"  said  Raed. 

"  Oh,  he'll  come  back  if  he  can ! "  exclaimed  Dono- 
van. "  He's  true  blue ! " 

"But  what  if  he  can't,"  Kit  observed  quietly. 
"  What  a  situation  for  us !  Here  we  are  a  thousand 
miles  from  a  civilized  town  or  a  civilized  people,  and  in 
a  worse  than  trackless  wilderness !  The  season,  too,  is 
passing.  The  straits  will  soon  be  closed  with  ice." 

"Only  think  of  it!"  Wade  cried  out,  —  "here  ou 
this  frozen  coast,  with  winter  coming  on  !  In  a  month 
it  will  be  severe  weather  here.  We've  nothing  but  GUI 
cloth  clothing ! " 

Wade  turned  away ;  and  for  ma'iy  minutes  we  were  all 
silent. 

Bang  ! 


J76  LEFT  CN  LABRADOR. 

"  (  ome,  fellows !  "  Raed  exclaimed  at  length.  "  This 
won't  do !  Wade  has  got  the  gloomiest  side  out ! 
Come,  rally  from  this  !  See,  they're  not  gaining  on  the 
schooner!  Look  how  she's  bowling  away  !  They  haven't 
hit  her  yet.  Kit !  Wash  !  I  say,  fellows,  it  looks  a  lit- 
tle bad,  I  own.  But  never  say  die  ;  or,  if  you  must  die, 
—  why,  die  game.  That's  the  doctrine  you  are  always 
preaching,  Kit.  Isn't  it,  now?  Tell  me!" 

"But  to  be  frozen  or  starved  to  death  among  these 
desolate  ledges  ! "  muttered  Kit. 

"Is  not  a  cheery  prospect,  I'll  admit,"  Raed  finished 
for  him.  "  Rather  trying  to  a  fellow's  philosophy,  isn't 
it?" 

Bang  ! 

"  She  isn't  hit  yet,"  remarked  Donovan,  who  had  taken 
Raed's  glass.  "  She  slides  on  gay  as  a  cricket.  I  can 
see  the  cap'n  throwing  water  with  the  skeet  against  the 
sails  to  make  'em  draw  better." 

"  How,  for  Heaven's  sake,  did  that  ship  come  to  get  up 
so  near  before  they  saw  her  ?  "  Kit  exclaimed  suddenly. 

We  looked  off  to  the  west.  The  dozen  straggling 
islets  beyond  us  extended  off  in  irregular  order  toward 
the  north-west. 

"I  think,"  said  Raed,  "that  the  ship  must  have  come 
up  a  little  to  the  south  of  those  outer  islands.  Our  folks 
could  not  have  seen  her,  then,  till  she  came  past." 

"I  don't  call  that  the  same  ship  that  fired  on  us  a 
week  ago,"  Wey mouth  remarked. 

"  Oh,  no  ! "  said  Kit.  "  That  ship,  <  The  Rosamond,' 
can't  more  than  have  reached  the  nearest  of  the  Com- 
pany's trading-posts  by  this  time." 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  177 

"She  probably  spoke  tl.is  ship  coming  out,  and  told 
them  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  us,"  said  Raed. 

"  Old  Red-face  doubtless  charged  them  to  give  us  par- 
ticular fits,"  Kit  replied. 

"  And  they've  got  us  in  a  tight  place,  no  mistake." 
Wade  remarked  gloomily..  "We're  rusticated  up  here 
among  the  icebargs ;  sequestered  in  a  cool  spot." 

Bang  ! 

"  Gracious  !  I  believe  that  one  hit  '  The  Curlew ' !  " 
Donovan  exclaimed.  "  The  captain  and  old  Trull  —  ] 
believe  it's  Trull  —  ran  aft,  and  are  looking  over  the 
taffrail!" 

Kit  pulled  out  his  glass  and  looked.  I  had  not  taken 
mine,  nor  had  Wade.  The  schooner  was  now  three  or 
four  miles  down  the  straits,  and  the  ship  was  a  good  way 
past  us. 

"~No  great  harm  done,  I  guess,"  Kit  said  at  length. 
"  The  captain  ran  down  into  the  cabin,  but  came  up  a  few 
moments  after;  and  they  are  standing  about  the  deck  as 
before." 

"  As  long  as  they  miss  the  standing  rigging,  and  don't 
hit  the  sails,  there's  no  danger,"  Raed  observed. 

"  That  ship  is  a  mighty  fast  sailer,"  Weymouth  said. 

'•  Ought  to  be,  I  should  think,"  Donovan  replied. 
"  Look  at  the  sail  she's  got  on  !  They've  been  getting 
out  studding-sails  too.  This  strong  gale  drives  her 
along  like  thunder  !  " 

"  I  don't  see  that  she  gains,"  Raed  remarked.  "  Wf 
shall  see  'The  Curlew'  back  here  for  us  yet." 

"  Xot  very  soon,  I'm  afraid,"  Wade  said. 

"  Well,  not  t>night,  I  dare  say,"  replied  Raed. 

12 


178  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  How  long  do  you  set  it?"  Kit  asked,  taking  down 
his  glass.  "Suppose  the  captain  is  lucky  enough  to  get 
away  from  them :  how  long  do  you  think  it  will  be  before 
he  will  get  back  here  for  us  ?  " 

"  That,  of  course,  depends  on  how  far  they  chase  him/' 
said  Raed. 

"  They'll  chase  him  just  as  far  as  they  can,"  replied 
Kit.  "Why  not?  It's  right  on  their  way  home. 
They'll  chase  the  schooner  clean  out  the  straits." 

"  The  captain  may  turn  down  into  Ungava  Bay,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  straits,"  llaed  replied. 

"No,  he  won't  do  that,"  Kit  contended.  "That  bay 
is  full  of  islands,  and  choked  with  ice;  and  our  charts 
ar'n't  worth  the  paper  they're  made  out  on." 

"  Well,  if  he  has  to  run  out  into  the  Atlantic,  he  may 
not  be  back  for  ten  days." 

"  Ten  days  ! "  exclaimed  Wade.  "  If  we  see  him  in  a 
month,  we  need  to  think  we're  lucky." 

Bang  ! 

"That's  a  pleasant  sound  for  us,  isn't  it,  now?"  Kit 
demanded,  —  "  expecting  every  shot  will  lose  us  the 
schooner,  and  leave  us  two  thousand  miles  from  home  on 
a  more  than  barren  coast !  " 

"  I  shall  look  for  '  The  Curlew '  in  ten  days,"  Raed  re- 
marked. "  And  I  don't  think  we  had  better  leave  here, 
to  go  off  any  great  distance,  till  we  -feel  sure  she's  not 
coming  back  for  us.  If  she's  not  back  in  two  weeks,  I 
shall  think  we  have  got  to  shirk  for  ourselves." 

,"  But  how  in  the  world  are  we  to  live  two  weeks 
here  ! "  Wade  exclaimed. 

"  Live  by  our  wits,"  Kit  observed. 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  179 

"Looks  as  if  we  should  have  to  give  up  coffee/'  Raed 
said,  trying  to  get  a  laugh  going. 

"  Why,  I'm  hungry  now  !  "  Wade  cried  out ;  "  but  I 
don't  see  any  thing  to  eat  but  ice  and  rocks  ! " 

"  It's  half-past  eleven,"  Kit  announced,  looking  at  his 
watch,  "  Seriously,  what  do  you  expect  we  can  get  hold 
of  for  grub,  Eaed  ?  " 

"  Well,  seals." 

"  Seals !  "  exclaimed  Wade ;  "  the  oily,  nasty  trash  ! " 

"  Hunger  may  bring  you  to  sing  a  different  tune," 
Kit  muttered.  "  I'm  not  sure  that  a  seal's  flipper  might 
not  be  acceptable  by  to-morrow  morning." 

"  There  are  plenty  of  kittiwakes  and  lumrie  and  eider- 
ducks  about  these  islets,"  I  suggested.  "We  can  shoot 
some  of  them." 

"And  we  can  fish  !"  Weymouth  exclaimed. 

"  Where's  your  hooks  ?  "  said  Kit. 

That  question  floored  the  fishing  project. 

"  Well,  we've  got  our  muskets,"  replied  Weymouth. 

"  How  many  cartridges  in  all  ?  "  Raed  asked. 

"Let's  take  account  of  them.  They  are  like  to  be 
precious  property." 

"  I've  got  eight,"  said  Kit,  counting  them. 

"  I  have  seven,"  Wade  announced. 

"  Six,"  said  I. 

"  I  took  nine/'  Eaed  observed. 

"You  gave  me  five,"  reported  Weymouth.  "I  have 
used  one.  Here's  the  other  four." 

"Thirty-four  in  all,"  said  Kaed.  " Now,  boys,  these 
are  worth  their  weight  in  gold  to  us.  Not  one  must  be 
wasted." 


180  LEFT   ON   LABRADOR. 

"  My  butcher-knife  is  like  to  come  into  good  use." 
Donovan  remarked,  feeling  the  edge  of  it. 

"Yes;  and  we've  got  our  jack-knives  too,"  said  Kit. 

"  How  about  a  fire  ?  "  Wade  asked. 

At  that  there  were  blank  looks  for  a  moment ;  till, 
with  a  queer  grin,  Donovan  began  to  fumble  in  his  waist- 
coat-pocket, and  drew  out,  in  close  company  with  a 
rounded  plug  of  tobacco,  seven  or  eight  grimy  matches. 

"Hurrah  !"  shouted  Kit. 

"  You've  allus  been  dippin'  into  me  pretty  strong 
about  smokin',"  said  Don,  looking  around  to  Eaed; 
"  but  you  can't  say  that  smokin'  don't  have  its  advan- 
tages sometimes." 

"  That's  an  argument  for  the  weed  that  we  can  all 
appreciate  at  present,  no  mistake,"  Raed  replied.  "  Don, 
keep  hold  of  those  matches,  and  see  that  they  all  strike 
fire,  and  I'll  never  preach  to  you  again,  so  sure  as  my 
name  is  Warren  Raedway." 

Bang  !  A  distant  boom  from  the  hated  ship,  now  low 
down  on  the  sea. 

"  The  schooner  is  almost  out  of  sight,"  said  Kit. 
"  She's  a  long  way  off.  Perhaps  it's  the  last  time  we 
shall  ever  set  eyes  on  her  pretty  figure  !  " 

"  Oh,  not  so  bad  as  that,  I  hope ! "  cried  Kacd. 
"  Don't  go  to  getting  poetical,  Kit.  How  about  dinner? 
that's  of  more  consequence  just  now  than  poetry.  Time 
enough  to  make  verses  on  this  rather  awkward  episode 
when  we're  safe  in  Boston.  Make  a  proposal  for  clinuerf 
somebody.  Wade's  starving." 

"  What  say  for  the  sea-horse !  "  exclaimed  Donovan 

"  Yes ;  how  about  that  walrus  ?  "  Kit  demanded. 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  181 

"That  sea-horse  has  got  us  into  a  fine  scrape,"  mut- 
tered Wade.  "  It  would  have  been  better  if  we  had  left 
him  undisturbed  on  his  island." 

"That's  neither  this  nor  there,  now,"  said  Kit. 
"Question  arises,  Can  we  eat  him?  Is  it  fit  to  eat? 
Did  ever  anybody  hear  of  their  being  eaten  ?  " 

"  The  Huskies  eat  them,  I  believe,"  said  E,aed. 

"  The  Huskies !  Well,  I  mean  civilized  folks :  ship's 
crews  ?" 

Nobody  knew. 

"  The  best  way  will  be  to  try  it  for  ourselves,"  re- 
marked Donovan.  "  But  we  don't  know  that  we  killed 
him  yet.  We  didn't  stop  to  find  out,  you  know." 

"Then  that  is  clearly  the  next  thing  to  do,"  said 
Raed.  "Let's  go  down  to  the  boat,  and  take  that  round 
to  the  place  where  we  fired  at  the  second  one." 

"  But  how  about  the  birds,  the  eider-ducks  and  kitti- 
wakes  ?  "  said  I.  "  We  should  find  them  more  palata- 
ble than  sea-horse  —  to  begin  with." 

"Very  well :  you  and  Weymouth  might  go  round  the 
island  to  the  left.  It  can't  be  more  than  a  mile  and  a 
half  or  two  miles.  But  do  be  prudent  of  your  car- 
tridges." 

Boom  ! 

Raed  and  Kit,  with  Wade  and  Donovan,  then  got  into 
the  boat,  and  pulled  off  round  the  islet  to  the  right ;  while 
Weymouth  and  I,  reloading  our  muskets,  set  off  on  our 
bird-hunt. 

The  west  end  of  the  island  was  considerably  higher 
than  the  eastern  portion.  As  we  went  on,  we  espied 
scores  of  little  auks  sitting  upon  the  low  cliffs. 


182  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  No  use  to  waste  powder  on  them,"  said  Weymouth. 

"  But  see  there ! "  suddenly  halting.  "  If  those  ain't 
geese,  I'm  mistaken,  —  out  there  on  that  gravel-flat, 
waddling  along.  Ain't  those  geese  ?  " 

Wild-geese  they  were,  or,  as  some  call  them,  Canada 
geese  j  nearly  as  large  as  our  domestic  geese,  and  of  a 
gray  slate-color.  They  did  not  seem  to  fear  our  approach 
much.  We  walked  quietly  up  to  fifty  yards. 

"  I'll  take  that  hig  gander,"  I  said. 

"All  right,"  quoth,Weymouth.     "I'll  take  a  goose." 

We  fired  at  them  with  a  careful  aim.  Over  went  the 
gander  and  a  goose.  The  rest  flew  with  loud  squallings, 
save  one  with  a  broken  wing,  which  Weymouth  rushed 
after,  and  pelted  to  death  with  stones. 

"A  pretty  good  haul!"  he  exclaimed,  holding  them 
up.  "Weigh  eight  or  ten  pounds  apiece.  But  I  didn't 
expect  to  see  wild-geese  up  here,"  lie  added. 

We  saw  several  flocks  of  them  after  that. 

Half  a  mile  farther  round,  we  came  upon  a  flock  of 
razor-bills  perched  on  the  cliffs  overhanging  the  water. 
They  rose,  and  went  croaking  off  toward  the  next  islet, 
distant  about  three  hundred  yards,  too  quick  for  us  to 
fire  with  caution. 

"  The  sealers  often  get  their  eggs,"  Weymouth  ob- 
served. "  They're  good  fried,  they  say." 

It  then  occurred  to  me  that  these  eggs  might  be  a  very 
gopd  and  cheaply  —  as  regarded  ammunition  —  obtained 
article  of  food  for  us.  Laying  down  our  guns,  we  climbed 
up  among  the  rocks,  and  spent  nearly  an  hour  search- 
ing for  their  nests.  At  length  Weymouth  found  one 
with  three  eggs ;  and,  a  few  moments  after,  two  mor<\  T 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR.  183 

had  some  doubt  about  the  eggs  being  good  so  late  in  the 
season.  There  were  plenty  of  empty  nests  about,  look- 
ing as  if  there  had  been  a  brood  raised  already.  These 
were  doubtless  second  nests  of  pairs  that  had  lost  their 
first  nests  from  the  depredations  of  falcons,  ravens,  or 
perhaps  foxes.  To  settle  the  point,  we  broke  an  egg :  it 
looked  sound.  Weyrnouth  then  filled  his  cap  with  them 

Boom  ! 

While  climbing  down  to  our  muskets,  I  startled  a  can  • 
vas-backed  duck  sitting  on  a  nest  of  eleven  eggs.  These 
I  appropriated;  and,  before  getting  round  to  where  we 
had  fired  on  the  sea-horse,  Weymouth  espied  an  eider- 
duck  sitting  on  a  shelf  of  the  shore  crags.  From  her  we 
got  five  eggs  of  a  beautiful  pale-green  color. 

"  No  need  of  starving  here,  I  should  say,"  Weymouth 
remarked  as  we  made  our  way  along  the  ledges,  pretty 
well  laden  with  muskets,  geese,  and  our  caps  full  of  eggs. 
"  There  won't  be  much  bread,  to  be  sure ;  but  then  a 
fellow  can  live  on  eggs  and  birds,  can't  he  ?  " 

"  I  hope  so,  Weymouth.    Hard  case  for  us  if  we  can't." 

"That's  so.  But  don't  you  be  down  in  the  mouth 
about  this  scrape.  I  don't  believe  they'll  catch  'The 
Curlew,'  sir.  Capt.  Hazard  will  be  back  here,  I  think." 

"I  hope  so." 

Truly,  I  thought  to  myself,  if  this  young  sailor  doesn't 
complain,  and  even  tries  to  offer  consolation  to  us  who 
have  got  him  in  this  predicament,  it  isn't  for  me  to  loot 
glum  about  it;  though  I  am  bound  to  own  that  some  of 
the  most  cheerless  moments  of  my  life  were  passed  dur- 
ing the  twenty-four  hours  succeeding  the  ominous  ap- 
pearance of  the  "Honorable  Company's  "  ship. 


184  LHFT   ON  LABKADOK. 

A  groat  shouting  and  heave-ho-ing  tolil  us  of  our  neai 
appioaeh  to  where  the  rest  of  our  party  were ;  and,  turn- 
ing a  bend  of  the  crags,  we  discovered  them  all  four  tug- 
ging at  a  line. 

"What  are  they  dragging,  I  wonder?"  Weymrath 
Baid  to  me.  "  Oh  !  I  see.  It's  the  sea-horse." 

They  were  trying  to  pull  the  walrus  up  out  of  the 
water,  where  they  had  found  him  floundering  about, 
fatally  wounded  with  the  slugs  we  had  fired  through  his 
back.  The  sea  about  the  rocks  was  discolored  with  hig 
blood,  and  turbid  with  the  dirt  he  had  torn  up.  Dono- 
van had  slaughtered  him  with  the  butcher-knife;  and, 
with  the  boat's  painter  noosed  over  the  head  of  the  car- 
cass, they  were  now  trying  to  draw  it  up  on  the  ledge. 
Weymouth  and  I  at  once  bore  a  hand ;  and  it  took  all  six 
of  us,  tugging  hard,  to  get  it  up. 

"  What  a  mass  of  fat  and  flesh ! "  Kit  exclaimed, 
puffing. 

"  I  don't  believe  I  could  ever  stomach  it ! "  Wade 
groaned. 

"  We  can  offer  you  something  better ! "  exclaimed 
Weymouth,  holding  np  the  geese.  "What  think  of 
those  fellows  ?  Wild-geese !  And  look  at  these ! "  hold- 
ing Up  his  cap.  "Nice  fresh  eggs!  —  to  be  had  by  the 
dozen  I  and  nothing  to  pay,  either!" 

"  Why,  fellows,  this  is  a  sort  of  northern  paradise ! " 
cried  Raed.  "  But  what  sticks  me  is  how  to  cook  those 
eggs  and  geese.  I  never  could  suck  eggs." 

"  Just  build  a  fire,  and  I'll  show  you  how  to  coofe 
cm,"  Weymouth  said. 

"  13 ut  what  shall  we  have  for  fuel?"  Kit  demanded. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  185 

That  Mas  a  staggerer. 

Boom  !  It  seemed  as  if  those  far-borne  echoes  would 
never  die  with  the  distance.  A  low,  dismal,  sullen 
sound  !  They  gave  us  queer  sensations.  As  each  came 
rolling  on  the  sea,  our  hearts  would  bound.  Up  to  that 
moment,  "The  Curlew"  had  not  been  taken;  but  per- 
haps that  shot  had  struck  down  her  sails. 

It  was  now  half-past  two.  The  vessels  could  hardly  he 
less  than  twenty  or  twenty-five  miles  off.  But  there  is 
nothing  to  absorb  or  deaden  sound  along  those  straits. 

"  Yes  ;  where's  your  fuel  ?  "  demanded  Wade. 

We  looked  around  :  plenty  of  rocks,  ice,  and  water, 
with  a  little  coarse  dirt,  or  gravel. 

"  Might  burn  the  boat,"  Kit  suggested. 

'•'That  seems  too  bad,"  said  Raed.  "Besides,  how  are 
we  to  get  off  the  island  here,  supposing  'The  Curlew' 
should  'not  come  back?  or  even  suppose  she  should? 
She  has  no  other  boat." 

"  And  we  may  want  to  go  off  to  the  other  islands,"  I 


"'  Well,  if  anybody  can  suggest  any  thing  better,  I 
should  like  to  hear  it,"  replied  Kit.  "  I  don't  want  to 
burn  the  boat,  I'm  sure;  but  I  can't  see  any  thing  else 
that  looks  inflammable." 

Neither  could  any  of  us,  though  we  looked  all  around 
us  very  earnestly  ;  till  Donovan  suddenly  cried  out,  — 

"  Why  not  burn  the  old  sea-horse  ?  " 

"  Why,  that's  our  victuals  !  "  laughed  Kit. 

"  I  know  it  ;  but  fire  comes  before  victuals,  unless  you 
eat  'em  raw  like  the  Huskies." 

-  Will  it  burn  ?  "  Raed  asked. 


186  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Burn  ?  yes.  Why,  on  a  sealer,  they  do  all  their  try- 
ing-out the  oil  with  a  fire  of  seal-refuse.  Why  shouldn't 
it  burn  as  well  as  a  candle  ?  " 

"  There's  our  wood-pile,  then ! "  cried  Raed,  giving 
the  carcass  a  kick.  "  Let's  have  a  fire  forthwith.  Don, 
you  slash  out  a  hundred-weight  or  so." 

"  Don't  cut  the  hide  to  pieces,"  Kit  interposed  :  "  we 
may  want  that  to  make  a  tent  of."  •» 

Donovan  whipped  out  his  butcher-knife,  and,  strip- 
ping back  the  tough  skin,  cut  out  a  pile  of  huge  slices. 
Kit,  meanwhile,  got  a  piece  of  old  thwart  from  the  boat, 
and  whittled  up  a  heap  of  pine  slivers.  Two  of  the  fat 
slices  were  then  slit  up  into  thin  strips,  and  laid  on  the 
slivers.  With  great  caution,  Donovan  struck  a  match  on 
his  jacket-sleeve.  We  all  hovered  around  to  keep  off 
the  wicked  puffings  of  the  wind.  The  slivers  were 
lighted;  they  kindled:  the  fat  meat  began  to  sizzle j 
then  caught  fire  from  the  pine ;  and  soon  a  ruddy,  splut- 
tering flame  was  blazing  with  marvellous  fierceness. 

"  Hurrah  ! "  Kit  shouted.  "  The  first  fire  these  grim 
old  ledges  have  seen  since  they  cooled  their  glowing, 
molten  billows  into  flinty  granite  !  " 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  "Spider."  — Fried  Eggs  —The  " Plates."  —  " Awfnl  Fresh!"— No 
Salt. —  Plans  for  getting  Salt  from  Sea-Water.  —  Ice- Water. — Fried 
Goose.  —  Plans  to  escape. —  A  Gloomy  Night.  -Fight  with  a  Walrus. 
—  Another  -'Wood-Pile."  —  Wade  Sick.  — A  Peevish  Patient  and  a 
Fractious  Doctor.  —  The  Manufacture  of  Salt. 

WE  stood  and  warmed  our  hands.  It  felt  com- 
fortable, —  decidedly  so ;  for  though  the  sun 
was  high  and  bright,  yet  the  north-west  wind  drove 
smartly  across  the  rocks  above  us.  Currents  of  air 
fresh  from  the  lair  of:  icebergs  can't  be  very  warm  ever. 
There  was  plenty  of  ice  all  about. 

"  Heady  to  cook  those  eggs,  Weymouth  ?  "  Raed  ex- 
claimed. "  You  were  going  to  furnish  spider,  kettle,  or 
something  of  that  sort,  you  know." 

"  Yes,  sir ;  and  all  I'll  ask  is  that  some  of  you  will  be 
dressing  a  couple  of  those  geese  while  I  am  gone.  I've 
a  mind  to  dine  off  goose  to-day." 

"  Well,  that's  reasonable,"  said  Donovan.  "  Go  ahead, 
matey !  Bring  on  your  spider  I"  We'll  have  the  geese 
ready  for  it ! " 

"  If  you  will  go  with  me,"  Weymouth  said,  nodding 
over  to  where  I  was  enjoying  the  fire.  "  Two  may  per- 
haps find  what  I  want  sooner  than  one." 


188  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

I  followed  him. 

"My  idea  is/'  said  he,  turning  when  we  were  off  a 
few  rods,  "  tc  get  a  flat,  hollowing  stone,  —  'bout  us  big 
over  as  a  milk-pan,  say ;  kind  of  hollowed  out  on  the 
top  side,  just  so  grease  won't  run  off  it.  We  can  set 
that  up  on  small  rocks,  and  let  the  fire  run  under.  It'll 
soon  get  hot :  then  grease  it,  and  break  the  eggs  into  it 
just  as  they  do  into  a  spider.  You  see  ?  " 

I  saw  it,  —  a  very  reasonable  project.  The  only  diffi- 
culty was  to  find  such  a  stone.  To  do  that  we  separated. 
Weymouth  followed  out  along  the  shore,  while  I  climbed 
up  among  the  crags.  There  were  plenty  of  flat  rocks; 
but  to  find  one  sufficiently  spider-shaped  for  our  pur- 
pose was  not  so  easy.  At  length  I  came  upon  one  — • 
a  flake  of  felspar  of  a  dull  creams-color  —  hollowed 
enough  on  one  side  to  hold  a  pint  or  upwards.  But  it 
was  heavy :  must  have  weighed  fully  a  hundred  pounds. 
I  called  to  Weymouth  :  he  was  out  of  hearing.  Nothing 
to  do  but  carry  it.  So,  after  some  mustering  of  my 
spare  muscle,  I  picked  it  up,  and,  going  along  to  a  favor- 
able spot,  succeeded  in  getting  down  to  the  beach  with 
it,  whence  I  toiled  along  to  our  camp-fire.  Weymouth 
had  got  there  a  little  ahead  of  me  with  a  flat  stone 
worn  smooth  by  the  waves.  It  was  not  so  thick  as 
mine,  nor  so  heavy :  it  was  a  sort  of  dark  slate-stone. 
Forthwith  a  discussion  arose  as  to  the  merits  of  the  two 
spiders;  which  was  finally  decided  in  favor  of  the  one  I 
had  found,  from  its  being  the  whitest  and  cleanest-look- 
ing. Meanwhile  Donovan  had  been  feeding  the  fire  so 
profusely,  that  all  hands  had  been  obliged  to  get  back 
from  it.  Animal  fat,  like  this  of  the  walrus,  makes  an 


.EFT  ON  LABRADOR. 


exceedingly  hot  flame.  Three  flat  stones  were  set  up 
edgewise,  and  the  spider  set  on  them.  The  flaming 
meat  was  then  thrust  under  it  so  as  to  heat  the  spider. 
From  its  thickness,  it  took  some  minutes  for  it  to 
become  heated  through  ;  hut,  in  the  course  of  a  quarter 
of  an  hour,  Kit  pronounced,  it  ready.  Weymouth  cut 
out  a  chunk  of  walrus-hlubber,  with  which  he  basted 
it,  the  melted  fat  collecting  in  a  little  puddle  at  the 
bottom. 

"  Now  for  the  eggs  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

Raed  handed  them  to  him,  one  by  one  ;  while  he  broke 
them  on  the  edge  of  the  butcher-knife,  and  dropped  a 
half-dozen  into  the  novel  frying-pan. 

"  Better  be  getting  your  plates  ready  !  "  he  shouted, 
turning  them  over  with  the  knife  to  the  tune  of  a 
mighty  fizzling. 

We  all  took  the  hint,  and  scattered  to  find  flat  stones 
for  platters.  'Twas  a  singular  assortment  of  kitchen- 
ware  that  we  re-appeared  with  a  few  minutes  later. 
Taking  up  the  fried  eggs  with  his  knife,  Weymouth 
tossed  us  each  one,  which  we  caught  on  our  plates, 
Another  batch  was  then  broke  into  the  spicier,  fried,  and 
distributed  like  the  first. 

"  Now  then  !  "  cried  Kit.  "  Draw  jack-knives,  and 
dine!" 

Several  mouthfuls  were  eaten  in  silence. 

"  What  think  of  'em  ?  "  Weymouth  asked,  casting  9 
ily  glance  around.  "  How  do  they  go  ?  " 

''Rather  oily  \  "  grumbled  Wade. 

"  Awful  fresh  !  "  Kit  complained. 

"  Not  a  dust  of  salt  in  this  camp  !  "  Kaed  exclaimed. 


190  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"We  never  can  live  without  any  salt,"  said  I 
"  Nothing  will  relish  so  fresh  as  these  eggs." 

"But  where's  your  salt  coming  from?"  Kit  de- 
manded. 

"Plenty  of  it  in  the  sea,"  said  Donovan.  "Might 
boil  down  some  of  the  salt  water." 

"  If  we  only  had  a  kettle  to  boil  it  in,"  Kaed  added. 

"Well,  there's  the  old  tin  dipper  in  the  hoat  that  we 
used  to  hail  out  the  rain-water  with,"  replied  Don, 
"  We  could  keep  that  boiling.  Might  boil  away  six  or 
seven  quarts  by  morning.  That  would  give  quite  a 
pinch  of  salt." 

"  That's  the  idea ! "  said  Kit.  "  Let's  get  it  going  a?" 
soon  as  we  can.  Wash  it  out,  and  dip  it  up  two-thirds 
full  of  water,  Don.  I'll  fix  a  way  to  set  it  over  the 
fire." 

Meanwhile  Weymouth  was  frying  another  dozen  of 
eggs. 

"  I  think  I  can  suggest  a  better  way  of  evaporating  the 
sea-water,"  remarked  Raed  as  Donovan  came  up  with 
the  two-quart  dipper  of  water.  "You  see  that  little 
hollow  in  the  ledge  just  the  other  side  of  the  fire :  that 
vill  hold  several  pailfuls,  probably.  The  fire  on  the 
rocks  must  make  that  warm :  you  see  if  it  isn't,  Wash." 

I  was  on  that  side.  The  ledge  for  several  yards  from 
the  blaze  was  beginning  to  get  warmed  up. 

"  We  might  brush  that  out  clean,"  Raed  continued, 
"  and  fill  it  with  water.  It  will  evaporate  fast  there, 
and  leave  its  salt  on  the  bottom  of  the  hollow.  We  can 
move  the  fire  along  a  little  nearer  to  make  the  rocks 
hotter.  I'm  not  sure  that  we  could  not  make  the  watei 
boi.1  in  there." 


'    LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  191 

The  place  was  brushed,  and  a  dozen  bumper-fula 
turned  into  the  hollow,  where  it  soon  began  to  steam. 

"  That'll  do  it ! "  exclaimed  Kit.  "  Never  mind :  we 
Bhall  have  salt  by  to-morrow ! " 

After  eating  the  eggs,  one  of  the  geese,  which  Dono- 
van and  Kaed  had  Messed,  was  cut  up  raw,  and  fried  on 
the  spider.  We  had  sharpened  appetites  ;  and,  had  tho 
morsels  been  flavored  with  salt,  it  would  not  have  tasted 
bad.  Wade  tried  dipping  his  in  the  bumper  of  sea- 
water,  —  with  no  great  satisfaction  to  his  palate,  I  in- 
ferred ;  for  he  did  not  repeat  the  experiment. 

"  How  about  drink  ?  "  Kit  observed  at  length.  "  I 
don't  suppose  there's  a  spring  on  the  island.  I'm  get- 
ting thirsty.  What's  to  be  done  for  water?" 

"  Have  to  melt  ice,"  Raed  replied.  "  There's  ice  along 
the  shore,  among  the  rocks." 

Kit  started  off,  and  presently  came  back  with  a  large 
lump.  Bits  of  it  were  broken  off  and  put  in  the  bumper, 
and  held  over  the  fire.  The  water  thus  obtained  and 
cooled  with  ice  was  not  salt  exactly.  Still  it  was  not,  as 
*•  .as  sometimes  been  affirmed,  pure  fresh  water,  by  any 
means :  it  had  a  brackish  taste. 

The  weather,  which  had  been  clear  during  the  day 
thus  far,  began  to  foul  toward  evening.  It  was  now 
after  six.  The  wind  had  veered  to  the  south-west. 
Wild,  straggling  fogs,  with  black  clouds  higher  up,  were 
running  into  the  north-east.  Damp,  cold  gusts  blew  in 
from  the  water. 

"We  shall  have  a  chilly  night,"  Wade  said,  shiver- 
ing a  little.  "."Rain  and  sleet  before  morning,  likely  as 
not." 


192  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

We  set  about  preparing  for  it.  A  little  back  from 
the  fire  a  wall  of  rough  stones  was  hastily  thrown  up  to 
the  height  of  three  feet  or  over,  and  continued  for  ten 
or  twelve  feet,  with  hoth  ends  brought  p^j^i  toward  the 
Hre.  We  then  got  the  boat  up  out  of  tne  water,  and,  by 
hard  lifting,  raised  it  bottom-up,  and  laid  it  on  our  semi- 
circular wall.  It  thus  formed  a  kind  of  shed  large 
enough  to  creep  under.  But,  not  satisfied  with  this, 
Donovan  fell  to  work  with  his  butcher-knife,  and,  in  the 
course  of  an  hour,  had  cleaved  the  skin  off  both  sides  of 
the  walrus  down  to  where  it  rested  on  the  rock.  Then, 
using  the  hafts  of  the  oars  as  levers,  wj  rolled  the  car- 
cass on  one  side.  The  hide  was  then  skinned  off  under- 
neath ;  when,  on  rolling  the  carcass  clean  over,  w°  had 
the  hide  off  in  one  broad,  immensely-heavy  shee'v.  Raed 
estimated  it  to  contain  twenty  square  yards,  reckoning 
the  average  girth  of  the  walrus  at  twelve  feet,  and  its 
length  at  fifteen  feet.  By  means  of  the  oars  and 
thwarts  as  supports,  the  skin  was  then  raised  with  the 
raw  side  up  in  tent  form  over  the  wall  and  boat,  making 
shelter  sufficient  for  us  all  to  get  under  with  comfort. 

"  Now  let  it  storm,  if  it  wants  to ! "  cried  Weyinouth : 
"  we've  got  a  water-proof  seal-skin  at  least ! " 

An  arch  of  stones,  with  our  spider  set  in  the  top,  was 
then  built  over  the  fire  to  protect  it  from  the  weather. 

"How  long  will  this  walrus  last  for  firewood,  sup- 
pose ?  "  I  asked. 

"Oh!  two  or  three  days,  for  a  guess,"  Donovan 
thought. 

"After  that,  what?"  said  Wade. 

"  It's  no  use  to  trouble  ourselves  about  that  now,"  said 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  193 

Kit:  "the  Bible  expressly  forbids  it.  Besides,  we've 
bad  trouble  enougb  for  one  day.  I'm  for  turning  in  and 
baving  a  nap." 

"Not  much  fun  in  turning  in  on  a  bare  ledge,  I  fan- 
cy," Wade  replied.  "  We  shall  miss  our  mattresses." 

"  A  bare  rock  is  a  ratli'er  hard  thing  to  bunk  on,  I  do 
think,"  Raed  remarked,  peeping  under  the  walrus-skin. 
"If  we  were  in  Maine,  now,  we  should  qualify  that 
with  a  '  shake-down '  of  spruce-boughs.  Didn't  see  any 
thing  of  the  evergreen  sort  among  the  rocks,  did  you, 
Wash  ?  " 

We  had  not.  It  then  occurred  to  me  that  we  had  ob- 
served several  little  shrubs  common  to  the  mountains  of 
Labrador,  and  known  to  naturalists  as  the  Labrador  tea- 
plant. 

"  Any  thing  is  better  than  the  bare  rock,"  Raed  re- 
marked when  I  spoke  of  this  shrub ;  and  we  all  sallied 
out  to  glean  an  armful. 

While  thus  engaged,  Wade  and  Kit  espied  a  bed  of 
moss  in  a  hollow  between  the  crags,  a  portion  of  which 
was  dry  enough  for  our  purpose.  After  bringing  an 
armful  of  the  tea-plant,  we  made  a  trip  to  the  moss- 
patch.  What  we  could  all  bring  at  once  piled  upon  the 
coarse  shrubs  made  a  bed  by  no  means  to  be  despised  by 
—  cast-away  s. 

"  I  presume  there's  no  need  of  mounting  guard  or  set- 
ting a  watch  here,"  Donovan  said. 

"  How  do  •no  know  that  some  party  of  Huskies  or  In- 
dians has  not  been  watching  our  movements  all  day?" 
Weymouth  suggested. 

"I  don't  think  it  likely,"  said  Raed.     "We  may  all 

13 


194  LEFT  ON   LABRADOR. 

venture  to  go  to  sleep,  I  guess,  and  trust  to  Guard  to 
keep  watch  for  us." 

"I  don't  know  about  that,"  Kit  remarked,  patting  the 
old  fellow's  head.  "  He's  eaten  so  much  of  our  wood- 
pile, that  he  will  be  but  a  drowsy  sentinel,  I'm  afraid." 

The  fire  was  replenished  with  blubber ;  and  we  all  lay 
down  on  our  mossy  beds  inside  our  fresh-smelling  tent. 

The  sun  must  have  been  still  high  in  the  north-west; 
but  so  wild  and  dark  were  the  clouds,  that  it  had  grown 
quite  dark  by  nine  o'clock.  The  damp  wind -gusts 
sighed ;  the  surf  swashed  drearily  on  the  rocks.  De- 
spite all  our  efforts  to  bear  up  and  seem  gay,  a  weight 
of  doubt  and  danger  rested  heavily  on  our  spirits. 
"  Where  is  '  The  Curlew '  now  ?  "  was  the  question  that 
would  keep  constantly  recurring,  followed  by  a  still  more 
ominous  query,  "  What  would  become  of  us  if  she  should 
not  return  ?  "  . 

"  Isn't  there  a  town  out  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Lab- 
rador, a  town  or  a  village,  settled  by  the  Moravian  mis- 
sionaries ? "  Raed  asked  suddenly,  after  we  had  been 
lying  there  quietly  for  some  minutes. 

"  Seems  to  me  there  is,"  Kit  replied  after  a  moment 
of  reflection. 

"  There's  one  indicated  on  our  geography-maps,  I'm 
pretty  sure,  called  Nain,  or  some  such  scriptural  name. 
Don't  you  remember  it,  Wash  ?  " 

I  did  distinctly ;  and  also  another,  either  above  or  be- 
low it  on  the  coast,  called  Hopedale,  colonized  by  mis- 
sionaries from  South  Greenland. 

"Those  Moravians  are  very  good  folks,  I've  heard," 
Wade  said.  "  They're  a  very  pious,  Christian  people.  I 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  195 

have  read,  too,  that  they  have  succeeded  in  Christianiz- 
ing many  of  the  coast  Esquimaux." 

"  Those  Huskies  must  make  queer  Christians  ! "  ex- 
claimed Donovan. 

"How  far  do  you  suppose  it  is  out  to  those  towns, 
Nain,  say,  from  here,  for  a  guess  ? "  Eaed  asked  a  few 
minutes  after. 

"  I  was  just  thinking  of  that,"  said  Kit.  "  Well,  I 
should  say  four  hundred  miles." 

"  Not  less  than  six  hundred,"  said  Wade. 

I  thought  it  as  likely  to  be  seven  or  eight  hundred. 

"That  would  be  a  good  way  to  travel  on  foot,"  mut- 
tered Eaed  reflectively. 

"  Yes,  it  would,"  said  Kit.  "  Still  I  shouldn't  quite 
despair  of  doing  it  if  there  was  no  other  way  out  of 
this." 

"  How  long  would  it  take  us,  do  you  suppose  ?  "  Eaed 
asked  after  another  pause.  "How  many  miles  a  day 
could  we  make,  besides  hunting  and  getting  our  food  ?  " 

"  Not  more  than  twelve  on  an  average,"  Kit  thought. 

"Suppose  it  to  be  seven  hundred  miles,  that  would 
take  us  near  sixty  days,"  Eaed  remarked;  "seventy, 
counting  out  Sundays." 

"  We  never  could  do  that  in  the  world ! "  Wade  ex- 
claimed. "It  would  take  us  till  midwinter,  in  this 
country !  We  should  starve !  We  should  freeze  to 
death  ! " 

"Couldn't  very  well  do  both,"  Kit  observed  rather 
dryly. 

"The  journey  would  be  well-nigh  impossible,  I  ex- 
pect," Raed  remarked.  "  On  getting  in  from  the  coast, 


196  LEFT  ON   LABRADOR. 

we  should  probably  meet  with  no  sea-fowl,  no  seals  :  in 
fact,  I  hardly  know  what  we  should  be  able  to  get  for 
game.  I  have  heard  that  caribou-deer  are  common  in 
Labrador ;  but  they  are,  as  we  know  from  experience  in 
the  wilderness  about  Mount  Katahdin,  very  difficult  to 
kill.  And  then  our  cartridges  !  " 

"We  might  possibly  attach  ourselves  to  some  party 
of  Esquimaux  going  southward,"  Kit  suggested. 

"And  be  murdered  by  them  for  our  guns  and  knives  1" 
exclaimed  Wade. 

"  Oh,  no !  not  so  bad  as  that,  I  should  hope.  But 
let's  go  to  sleep  now,  and  discuss  this  to-morrow." 

There  was  something  horrible  to  our  feelings  in  this 
thought  of  our  perfect  isolation  from  the  world.  I  think 
Wade  realized  it,  or  at  least  felt  it,  more  than  either  of 
the  other  boys.  Kit  either  didn't  or  wouldn't  seem  to 
mind  it  much  after  the  first  hour  or  two.  Raed  proba- 
bly saw  the  chances  of  our  getting  away  more  clearly 
than  any  of  us ;  but  I  doubt  if  he  felt  the  wretchedness 
of  our  situation  so  keenly  as  either  Wade  or  myself. 
He  was  always  cool  and  collected  in  his  plans,  and  not  a 
little  inclined  to  stoicism  as  regarded  personal  danger. 
These  philosophical  persons  are  apt  to  be  so.  What  the 
most  of  folks  feel  badly  about  they  laugh  at :  it  is  bet- 
ter so,  perhaps.  Yet  pity  and  sympathy  are  good  things 
in  their  way.  They  help  hold  society  together  ;  and  are, 
I  think  it  likely,  about  its  strongest  bonds  of  union.  As 
for  Weymouth  and  Donovan,  they  bore  it  all  very  lightly  : 
indeed,  they  didn't  seem  to  give  the  subject  any  great 
thought,  farther  than  to  exclaim  occasionally  that  it  wag 
"  rough  on  us,"  and  a  "  tough  one."  Sailors  always  have 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  197 

ft  vein  of  recklessness  in  their  mental  processes.  It 
comes  from  their  manner  of  life,  —  its  constant  peril 
They  learn  the  uselessness  of  "  borrowing  trouble." 

Once  in  the  night  I  woke, — woke  from  a  pleasant 
dream  of  home.  For  several  seconds  I  was  utterly  be- 
wildered; did  not  know  where  I  was.  Then  it  burst 
upon  me ;  and  such  a  wave  of  desolation  and  trouble 
broke  with  the  realization,  that  the  tears  would  start  in 
spite  of  all  shame.  It  was  raining  on  the  green  hide 
overhead  with  a  peculiarly  soft  patter.  The  strong  odor 
of  burning  fat  from  the  fire  filled  our  rude  tent ;  to  which 
were  added  the  fresh,  sick  smells  from  the  great  newly- 
butchered  carcass  of  the  walrus.  The  boys  were  sound 
asleep,  breathing  heavily.  Guard  roused  up  at  our  feet 
to  scratch  himself,  then  snuggled  down  again.  The 
wind  howled  dismally,  throwing  down  gusts  of  rain.  It 
dripped  and  pattered  off  the  skin-covering  on  to  the 
boat  and  on  to  the  rocks.  Now  and  then  a  faint  scream 
from  high  aloft  declared  the  passage  of  some  lonely  sea- 
bird  ;  and  the  ceaseless  swash  and  plash  of  the  sleepless 
sea  filled  out  in  my  mind  a  picture  of  home-sick  misery. 
It  is  no  time,  or  at  least  the  worst  of  all  times,  to  reflect 
on  one's  woes  in  the  night  when  just  awakened  from 
dreams  :  better  turn  over  and  go  to  sleep  again.  But  I 
had  not  got  that  lesson  quite  so  well  learned  then,  and  sc 
lay  cultivating  my  wretchedness  for  nearly  an  hour,  pic 
turing  our  future  wanderings  among  these  northern  soli- 
tudes, and  our  final  starvation.  "Perchance,"  I  groaned 
to  myself,  "in  after-years,  some  party  of  adventurers  may 
come  upon  our  white  bones,  what  the  gluttons  leave  of 
them."  I  even  went  farther ;  for  I  was  presuming  enougt 


198  LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

to  imagine  that  our  melancholy  disappearance  mighi  be- 
come the  subject  of  some  future  ballad.  How  would  it 
begin  ?  What  would  they  say  of  me  ?  What  had  1 
done  in  the  world  to  deserve  any  thing  by  way  of  a  line 
of  praise  or  a  tear  of  pity  ?  Nothing  that  I  could  think 
of.  At  best,  the  ballad,  if  written  at  all  (and  of  that  I 
was  beginning  to  have  my  doubts  the  more  I  thought  it 
over),  could  but  run,  — 

"  Whilom  in  Boston  town  there  dwelt  a  youth 
Who  ne'er  did  well  except  in  dying  young." 

That  was  as  far  as  I  could  get  with  it :  in  fact,  that 
was  about  all  there  was  to  be  said  by  way  of  eulogy. 
The  sea  seemed  to  get  hold  of  those  two  lines  somehow, 
and  kept  repeating  them  with  its  eternal  swish-swash, 
swash-swish. 

The  rain  pattered  it  out  in  its  heroic  pentameters,  — 

Pit-pat,  pit-fiat,  pit-pat,  pit-pat,  pit-pat! 

Pity-pat,  patent,  pat-pit,  pity-pit,  pit-pat ! 

All  at  once  the  regular  rhythm  of  the  sea  was  broken 
by  a  slight  splash  out  of  time.  Instantly  my  morbid 
ear  detected  it,  and  I  listened  intently.  Something  wa& 
splashing  along  in  the  water. 

"  Sea-fowl,"  I  hastily  assured  myself.  No,  that  was 
not  likety,  either  j  for  it  was  quite  dark,  and  the  sea 
talher  rough. 

"  The  Huskies  trying  to  surprise  us  ? "  It  might 
be.  Something  was  certainly  splashing  the  water  very 
near.  Why  didn't  Guard  notice  it  ?  Talk  about  a  dog's 
keen  ears  !  —  there  lay  the  Newfoundland  snoring  loudest 
of  anybody  !  Just  then  a  scraping  sound,  accompanied 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  199 

by  a  dull  rattling  of  the  shingle  among  the  rocks,  star- 
tbd  me  afresh.  We  were  being  surprised,  stole  upon,  by 
something,  undoubtedly.  Repressing  a  strong  inclina- 
tion to  yell  out,  I  arose  softly,  and  peeped  past  the  droop- 
ing, flapping  side  of  the  walrus-skin.  The  splashings 
were  now  still  more  distinct ;  and  I  saw,  dimly  through 
the  rain  and  darkness,  a  large,  dark  object  near  the  water. 
What  could  it  be  ?  A  hundred  fearful  fancies  darted 
into  my  mind.  Then  there  came  a  gruff  snort ;  and  the 
great  dusky  form  heaved  up  higher  on  the  rocks,  upon 
which  lay  the  carcass  of  the  sea-horse.  It  seemed  to  be 
moving  around  it,  making  a  dull,  scraping  noise.  Sud- 
denly a  deep,  horrid  groan,  ending  in  a  prolonged  bellow, 
burst  on  the  damp  air.  Guard  bounded  up  with  a  growl, 
and  rushed  out  barking.  Raed  and  Kit  jumped  up. 
They  were  all  scrambling  up.  There  was  a  moment  of 
uncertain  silence ;  then  Kit  cried,  — 

"Hollo!     What  was  that?" 

"  Don't  be  scared,"  I  said.  "  It's  another  walrus,  I 
guess.  Keep  still ;  but  get  your  guns  ready." 

"  Another  walrus,  did  you  say  ?  "  muttered  Raed,  com- 
ing to  look  out. 

"  I  think  it's  one  come  up  to  smell  round  the  carcass 
of  the  one  we've  killed." 

"  So  it  is ! "  exclaimed  Raed.  "  Like  as  not,  it's  this 
one's  mate.  What  a  hideous  noise ! "  for  the  huge 
creature  was  giving  vent  to  the  most  terrific  snortings 
and  snufflings. 

We  could  hear  it  butt  its  head  against  the  carcass. 

"It  has  come  round  here  hunting  for  its  mate,"  said 
Kit.  "That's  its  way  of  showing  grief,  I  suppose." 


200  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Guard  was  daring  up  to  it,  barking  furiously  :  but  th« 
great  beast  did  not  at  first  seem  to  pay  much  attention 
to  the  dog ;  till  on  a  sudden  it  turned,  with  another 
dreadful  bellowing,  —  we  thought  the  dog  had  bitten  one 
of  its  tail  flippers,  —  and  came  waddling  after  him,  snort- 
ing, and  gnashing  its  tusks.  Guard  fell  back  toward  our 
shel  ter. 

"  Shoot  him ! ;'  Raed  exclaimed. 

Kit  and  Donovan  both  fired  at  the  monster;  but,  with 
ferocious  snorts,  it  kept  after  the  dog. 

"  Eun  ! "  shouted  Weymouth.  "  Out  of  this  !  "  for 
the  dog  was  backing  right  in  upon  us. 

We  had  to  scurry  out  in  a  hurry  to  avoid  being  penned 
there.  Guard,  like  a  fool,  kept  backing  in  that  direc- 
tion. By  the  time  we  had  got  clear  of  the  shelter,  he 
had  got  himself  backed  into  it ;  and,  the  sea-horse  essay- 
ing to  follow  him,  the  oar  that  held  up  the  skin  in  front 
was  knocked  away,  and  down  it  came,  burying  the  dog, 
and  partially  covering  the  walrus.  A  fearful  uproar  of 
barking,  howling,  and  snorting,  followed.  Presently 
Guard  got  out  from  under,  and  ran  yelping  off,  leaving 
his  pursuer  floundering  about  under  the  hide.  Kit 
rushed  up,  and  thrust  his  bayonet  into  the  creature's  ex- 
posed side ;  when  with  a  mighty  squirm  it  turned  itself, 
knocking  down  the  boat,  and  sending  our  stone  wall  fly- 
ing in  all  directions.  The  battle  was  now  fairly  begun. 
We  all  closed  in  round  the  animal,  thrusting  at  it  with 
our  bayonets  anywhere  we  could  stab.  Yet  it  fought 
ferociously,  with  bellowings  enough  to  make  one's  blood 
run  chill.  It  seemed  marvellous  how  a  creature  so  un- 
wieldy could  turn  itself  so  rapidly.  Pain  and  rage  made 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  201 

it  no  mean  antagonist.  Once  Raed's  musket  was  sent 
flying  out  of  his  hands  several  rods ;  and  Wade,  thrust- 
ing at  its  head,  had  his  bayonet  wrenched  off  at  a  single 
twist.  "We  afterwards  found  it  bent  up  and  broken.  I 
think  Wey mouth  gave  it  a  mortal  wound  by  firii  g  a 
bullet  into  its  head ;  though  Kit  and  I  repeatedly  ran 
our  bayonets  into  its  sides  clean  up  to  the  rings.  It 
succumbed  at  last,  dying  hard,  with  many  a  finishing 
thrust. 

The  gray  morning  light  was  beginning  to  outline  the 
dreary  shore.  The  chilly  rain  still  poured.  The  reader 
can  imagine  in  what  a  plight  we  were.  The  fire  had 
gone  out.  Our  skin-tent  lay  in  a  wad ;  and  in  the  midst 
of  our  beds  sprawled  the  dead  sea-horse,  weltering  in  its 
blood ;  while  we  ourselves,  drenched  with  rain  and  be- 
spattered with  gore,  stood  round,  steaming  from  our 
warlike  exertions. 

"  This  is  a  pretty  how-d'y'-do ! "  Kit  exclaimed.  "  Look 
at  our  '  shake-downs ! '  —  all  blood  and  mire  ! " 

"Well,  we've  got  another  wood-pile"  said  Donovan. 

"I  wish  it  had  selected  a  more  fitting  time  to  make 
its  appearance,"  Raed  muttered.  "  It  has  demoralized 
us  completely." 

"  Nothing  to  do  but  re-organize,"  laughed  Kit.  "  Get 
the  painter-line.  Let's  drag  him  off." 

That  was  a  heavy  job,  and  took  us  nigh  half  an  hour. 
Then  there  were  the  bloo.l-soaked  moss  and  tea-plant 
shrubs  to  get  up  and  throw  away,  the  wall  to  rebuild, 
the  boat  to  set  up,  and  the  skin  to  repitch  on  the  oars. 
All  this  time  it  continued  to  rain  hard,  with  mingled 
flakes  of  snow.  A  tough  time,  we  called  it.  And,  after 


202  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

tlie  tent  was  pitched  again,  we  had  no  fire ;  and  could 
only  crouch,  wet  and  shivering,  on  the  bare  ledge.  I 
never  felt  more  uncomfortable  :  n^  bones  all  acl.ed;  my 
head  ached :  I  was  sick.  Wade  was  worse  off  than 
myself  even.  Throwing  himself  flat  on  the  rock,  he 
buried  his  face  in  his  arms,  and  lay  so  for  more  than  an 
hour.  Raed  and  Kit  sat  blackguarding  each  other  to 
keep  up  their  spirits.  Donovan  was  trying  to  dry  some 
pine-splinters  to  build  a  fire  with  by  sitting  on  them. 
Weymouth  was  cutting  out  blubber  from  the  skinned 
carcass  for  the  fire,  so  spon  as  the  splinters  could  be 
dried.  Two  matches  were  burned  trying  to  kindle  the 
pine-shavings.  We  thought  our  fire  dearly  purchased 
at  such  a  cost. 

"  Oaly  four  more,"  remarked  Donovan  gravely. 

"  We  must  not  let  it  go  out  again,"  Raed  said.  "  We 
must  sit  up,  some  of  us,  in  future,  to  tend  it." 

Any  thing  like  the  dreary  gloom  of  that  morning  1 
hope  never  to  experience  again.  Sea,  sky,  and  crags 
seemed  all  of  one  color,  — lead.  Seven  or  eight  miles  to 
southward,  the  mountains  of  the  mainland  (Labrador) 
showed  their  black  bases  under  the  fog-clouds.  The 
great  island  to  the  south-east  seemed  to  have  been  dipped 
in  ink,  so  funereal  was  its  hue. 

The  rain  had  frustrated  our  attempt  at  salt  manufac- 
ture. We  had  to  take  our  breakfast  of  fried  goose  in  all 
the  freshness  of  nature. 

Our  clothes  gradually  dried  on  us. 

During  the  forenoon  Kit  sallied  out  on  a  hunting- 
excursion,  and,  about  noon,  returned  with  a  fine,  plump, 
canvas-backed  duck,  which  we  ate  for  our  dinner. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  203 

Toward  four  o'clock  it  stopped  raining.  Donovan 
and  Weymouth  improved  the  chance  to  skin  the  sea- 
horse we  had  killed  during  the  night.  It  was  rather 
larger  than  the  first  one,  and  had  prodigious  stiff,  wiry 
whiskers  about  its  upper  lip,  some  of  which  we  kept  for 
a  cariosity.  They  were  over  a  foot  in  length,  and  as 
large  as  a  coarse  darning-needle.  The  tusks,  too,  were 
broken  out,  and  laid  aside. 

During  the  night  it  faired;  and  the  morning  was 
sunny.  Wade  had  become  very  unwell.  He  had  taken 
cold  from  his  drenching,  and  was  shivering  and  feverish 
by  turns.  His  courage,  too,  was  clean  down  to  zero. 
He  knew  we  should  never  see  home  again,  and  didn't 
seem  to  care  whether  he  lived  or  not.  That  is  about  as 
bad  a  way  as  a  fellow  can  get  into  ever.  I  was  little 
better  than  sick  myself;  and,  while  the  others  went  off 
After  eggs  and  game,  I  staid  to  keep  the  fire  going  and 
take  care  of  Wade.  No  small  stint  I  had  of  it  too ;  for 
he  was  peevish  and  touchy  as  a  young  badger.  I  knew 
he  ought  to  take  something  hot  of  the  herb-tea  sort,  and 
so  started  off  and  gathered  a  'dipperful  of  the  tea-plant 
leaves.  Then,  getting  a  lump  of  ice,  I  melted  it,  and 
made  a  strong  dish  of  the  "  tea."  Wade  was  lying 
under  the  shelter,  face  down  into  his  coat-sleeve.  Carry- 
ing in  the  steaming  dipper,  I  told  him  I  thought  he 
had  better  take  some  of  it :  it  would,  I  hoped,  help  his 
uold,  &c. 

No :  he  wouldn't  touch  it ! 

I  then  reasoned  a  while.  This  not  having  any  per- 
ceptible effect,  I  next  resorted  to  coaxing. 

No:  he  woulin't  drink  the  stinking  stuff! 


204  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Now,  no  doctor,  I  take  it,  likes  to  have  his  potions 
called  "stinking  stuff."  I  began  to  remonstrate;  and 
fi  om  that  —  not  being  in  a  very  amiable  frame  of  mind 
—  I  ere  long  got  mad,  and  was  on  the  point  of  pitching 
into  the  sufferer,  when  it  occurred  to  me  that  for  a  doctor 
to  be  caught  thrashing  his  patient  would  be  a  very  un- 
becoming spectacle  !  So  I  contented  myself  with  giving 
him  a  "  setting-up ; "  calling  him,  according  to  the  best 
of  my  recollections,  supported  by  the  subsequent  testi- 
mony of  the  patient,  an  "  ungrateful  dog,"  "  peep," 
"nincompoop,"  et  als. :  after  listening  to  which  for  a 
space,  Wade  got  up  and  drank  the  tea.  Peace  was 
immediately  restored  with  this  act  of  obedience ;  and  I 
proceeded  to  get  him  to  bed.  Pulling  down  the  boat, 
I  filled  it  half  up  with  such  of  the  shrubs  and  moss  as 
had  not  been  besmirched  with  the  blood  of  the  walrus. 
Wade  then  got  into  it.  I  made  him  a  pillow  of  the 
geese-feathers  by  piling  them  into  the  bow  under  his 
head,  and  spreading  over  them  my  pocket-handkerchief. 
I  next  had  him  take  off  his  boots,  and  set  a  hot  rock 
from  the  fire  at  his  feet.  What  to  cover  him  up  with 
was  something  of  a  problem.  I  managed  it  by  putting 
on  a  layer  of  the  moss,  and  laying  the  thwarts  of  the 
boat  over  this.  Then,  feeling  somewhat  fatigued  after 
my  labors,  I  crept  in  with  him;  and,  ere  long,  we  both 
went  to  sleep.  The  hunting-party  corning  back  two  or 
three  hours  after,  laden  with  eggs  and  brant  geese, 
awoke  me.  Wade  was  sweating  profusely  beneath  the 
boards  and  moss.  We  took  care  not  to  wake  him  till 
near  eight  o'clock,  evening;  when  he  got  up,  consider- 
ably better. 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 

The  next  day  (July  26)  was  spent  in  the  manufacture 
of  salt ;  not  the  manufacture  of  it  exactly,  either,  but 
the  extraction  of  it  from  sea-water.  We  were  getting 
perfectly  frantic  for  salt.  The  fresh  food  sickened  us. 
I  think  we  should  soon  hare  been  really  ill  from  the 
want  of  it.  Filling  the  hollow  in  the  ledge  with  the 
sea-water,  we  first  tried  to  get  fire  enough  about  it  to 
make  the  water  boil.  This  we  found  it  impossible  to  cJo, 
and  so  had  recourse  to  a  plan  suggested  by  Kit.  It  was 
to  get  eight  or  ten  stones  about  the  size  of  the  tin 
bumper,  and  heat  them  in  the  fire.  When  red-hot,  these 
were  successively  rolled  into  the  water  in  the  hollow, 
raising  great  clouds  of  steam,  and  soon  causing  it  to  boil 
furiously.  Continuing  this  stone-heating  process  for 
three  or  four  hours,  we  succeeded  in  boiling  away  fully 
half  a  dozen  pailfuls  of  water.  There  was  then  found 
to  be  a  thin  stratum  of  salt  deposited  along  the  bottom 
of  the  hollow.  How  we  crowded  around  it,  wetting  the 
ends  of  our  fingers,  and  licking  it  up !  Eggs  were  then 
fried  by  the  dozen,  and  eaten  with  a  relish  that  only  salt 
can  give.  I  should  add,  however,  that  this  appeared  to 
me  to  be  a  very  poor  quality  of  salt ;  or  else  it  had  other 
mineral  matter  mixed  with  it,  giving  it  a  slightly  bitter 
taste. 

The  quantity  obtained  aV  this  our  first  boiling  was  so 
small,  that  we  ate  it  all  that  night,  and  with  our  break- 
fast next  morning. 

The  next  forenoon  was  passed  boiling  down  a  second 
vatful.  Wade  and  I  attended  to  the  salt-making,  while 
the  rest  of  the  party  went  off  to  the  islet  next  to  the 
west  after  eggs  and  game.  In  the  evening  we  provided 


206  LEFT  °N  LABRAI  OR. 

ourselves  with  fresh  "  shake-downs "  of  moss  and  the 
tea-plant. 

The  28th  was  devoted  by  Raed,  Kit,  and  Donovan  to 
a  trip  down  to  the  mainland  on  the  south.  Raed  wanted 
to  see  what  sort  of  a  country  it  was,  with  a  view  to  our 
attempt  at  going  down  to  Nain  in  case  "  The  Curlew '' 
should  not  come  back.  They  did  not  get  back  till  nine 
in  the  evening.  They  had  found  the  hills  and  moun- 
tains along  the  coast  to  be  mere  barren  ridges  of  lichen- 
clad  rock,  with  moss-beds  in  the  hollows.  But  from  the 
summit  of  the  high  ridge,  about  two  miles  in  from 
the  shore,  they  had  seen  with  the  glass,  to  the  south- 
ward, what  seemed  to  be  low  thickets  of  stunted  ever- 
green,—  fir  or  spruce.  From  this  Kaed  argued  that 
fuel  might  be  obtained  by  a  party  travelling  through  the 
country ;  and,  from  that,  went  on  to  picture  these  thickets 
to  abound  with  deer  and  hares. 


CHAPTER  JLill. 

More  Salt.  — Some  Big  Hailstones.  — A  Bright  Aurora.  — The  Lookout. 
—  An  Oomiak  heaves  in  Sight.  —  The  Huskies  land  on  a  Neighboring 
Island.  —  Shall  we  join  them? —  A  Bold.  Singular,  not  to  say  Infamous. 
Proposition  from  Kit.  —  Some  Sharp  Talk.  — Kit's  Project  carried  by 
Vote. 

DURING  the  29th,  30th,  and  31st  (Sunday)  of  the 
month,  we  wer.e  employed  much  as  upon  the  27th  ; 
viz.,  boiling  for  salt,  and  egging  along  the  cliffs.  We 
wanted  to  get  as  much  salt  on  hand  as  possible ;  and,  by 
untiring  industry,  succeeded  in  getting  about  a  quart 
ahead.  But  to  do  this  we  had  been  obliged  to  keep  up 
a  smart  fire,  which  had  consumed  nearly  all  the  walrus- 
blubber  from  both  carcasses.  Where  to  get  the  next 
supply  of  fuel  was  an  open  question.  No  more  sea- 
horses had  showed  themselves.  We  concluded  that  this 
pair  were  all  that  had  been  in  the  vicinity. 

On  the  night  of  the  31st,  a  terrible  storm  of  wind, 
thunder,  and  hail,  swept  across  the  straits  from  the 
north-west.  Raed  picked  up  hailstones  in  front  of  our 
shelter,  after  the  cloud  had  passed,  which  were  two  inches 
and  a  half  in  diameter.  They  struck  down  upon  the 
rocks  with  almost  incredible  violence.  Any  ordinary 
canvas-tent  would  have  been  riddled  by  them;  but  our 

207 


208  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

tough  walrus-skin  bore  the  brunt,  and  sheltered  us  com- 
pletely. The  sea,  during  the  hail-fall,  seemed  to  boil 
with  a  loud  peculiar  roar,  and  was  white  with  bubbles 
and  foam.  There  was  a  very  bright  aurora  the  follow- 
ing night.  The  next  morning  was  fair;  but  a  ghastly 
greenish  haze  gave  the  sky  an  aspect  of  strange  pallor. 
Somehow  we  felt  uneasy  under  it.  After  breakfast,  Kit 
and  I  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  ledges  overlooking 
the  straits  to  the  north,  east,  and  west,  to  see  if  we 
could  discover  any  vessels.  Some  of  us  used  generally 
to  make  our  way  up  here  every  four  or  five  hours  to 
take  a  long  look.  For  an  hour  we  sat  gazing  off  on  the 
heaving  expanse,  flecked  white  with  ice-patch,  and 
bounded  far  to  the  north  by  a  low  line  of  black  moun- 
tains. The  breadth  of  the  straits  here  was  not  far  from 
seventeen  leagues. 

"Seven  days  since  we  were  retired  here,"  Kit  re- 
marked at  length. 

Seven  days !     It  seemed  seven  ages. 

"Kit,  what  do  you  think  of  the  chance  of  ouv  getting 
off  from  here  ?  " 

"  Wash,  I  don't  know :  I  don't  dare  to  think." 

"Do  you  really  believe  Capt.  Mazard  will  come 
back?" 

"Why,  if  he's  not  captured,  nor  wrecked  in  a  gale,  nor 
jammed  up  in  the  ice,  he  will  come  back." 

"You  have  no  doubt  he  will  come  back  if  he  can  ?" 

"  Why,  no :  I  know  he  will  come  if  he  can.  He 
wouldn't  leave  us  here.  Besides,  you  know,  Wash,  that 
we  owe  him  and  all  the  crew  for  his  and  their  services. 
I  don't  say  that  they  would  come  back  any  quicker  on 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  209 

that  accouut :  still  they  would  be  likely  to  waiit  theii 
pay,  you  know." 

"  That's  true." 

"  But,  Kit,  if  '  The  Curlew '  shouldn't  make  its  ap- 
pearance, do  you  believe  we  could  get  down  to  Nain,  or 
any  of  those  Esquimau  coast-villages  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,  Wash  :  we  could  try." 

"  Seven  hundred  miles  through  such  a  country  as  this ! 
Would  it  be  possible  ?  " 

"  It  would  be  no  use  to  stay  here,  you  know,  if  we  found 
the  schooner  wasn't  coming  back.  We  must,  of  course, 
make  an  effort  to  get  away.  It  would  be  foolish  to  stay 
here  till  winter  came  on.  I  don't  suppose  it  would  be 
possible  for  us  to  winter  here  :  we  should  freeze  to  death 
in  spite  of  every  thing  we  could  do.  The  cold  is  awfully 
intense  through  the  winter  months.  Not  even  the  Es- 
quimaux try  to  winter  on  the  straits  here.  Besides,  it's 
about  time  for  the  sea-fowl  to  fly  southward.  We  can't 
live  after  they're  gone." 

"But  only  think  of  a  sixty-days'  tramp  over  these 
barren  mountains !  Our  boots  wouldn't  last  a  hundred 
miles  !  Our  socks  are  worn  through  now ! " 

"  Have  to  make  moccasons." 

"  We  never  should  get  through  alive.  I  don't  believe 
Wade  would  stand  it  to  go  a  quarter  of  the  distance. 
He's  sick  now,  and,  worse  still,  has  no  courage.  He  acts 
strangely." 

"  Wade  will  rally  when  worst  comes  to  worst,  and  be 
the  head  man  in  extremities." 

u  Do  you  think  so  ?  " 

"I   do.      Wade   is   kind  of  hot-blooded,  you   know. 

14 


2 JO  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR, 

/ 

Being  left  here  so  sudden  struck  him  all  in  a  heap 
But  he  will  sho\v  blood  yet,  if  it  comes  to  a  real  hand- 
to-hand  struggle  :o  save  our  lives.  A  boy  that  took  his 
musket,  and  went  right  into  a  fair,  stand-up  battle  of 
his  own  accord,  as  they  say  Wade  did,  won't  give  in 
here  without  showing  us  another  side  to  his  character. 
One  thing,  he  feels  the  cold  here  worse  than  we  do :  it 
pinches  him  all  up.  But  he  will  come  out  of  his  dumps 
yet.  Don't  badger  him  :  he  won't  leave  his  bones  here. 
Seriously,  I  have  more  fear  for  Weymouth  and  Donovan 
than  for  Wade.  That  is  most  always  the  way  where 
there's  hardship  and  suffering.  Your  great,  strong, 
thoughtless  fellow  is  the  first  to  give  out  and  fail  up. 
You  mark  my  words,  now.  If  we  have  to  undertake 
this  journey,  Weymouth  and  Donovan  will  be  the  first 
to  sicken  and  fall  behind.  I  don't  believe  they  would 
ever  get  through  it.  But,  after  the  first  three  days, 
Wade  would  lead  us  all.  He  will  sort  of  rally  and  rise 
as  the  peril  and  hardship  increase.  He  is  kind  of  dis- 
couraged now,  because  he  sees  what's  before  us,  and  has 
to  muster  his  energies  to  meet  it ;  but  he  is  getting  a 
reserve  of  will-force  in  store.  There's  a  good  deal  in 
that,  I  tell  you !  A  strong  will  has  carried  many  a  fel- 
low through  hardships  that  would  have  killed  men  of 
twice  the  muscle  without  the  will ;  and  that's  the  way  it 
will  be  with  our  two  sailors,  I'm  afraid." 

"  But  I  am  not  in  favor  of  making  this  trip  overland," 
Kit  added  after  we  had  sat  musing  a  few  minutes. 

"  What  do  you  propose  ?  " 

"  I  think  it  best  to  work  out  of  the  straits  in  our  boat, 
if  we  can." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  211 

I  had  thought  of  that  plan. 

"  We  could  make  a  sail  out  of  this  walrus-hide,  and 
watch  our  chance  with  a  favorable  breeze  to  scud  us 
along  from  islet  to  islet  on  the  south  side  here.  We 
could  run  down  into  Ungava  Bay,  clean  to  the  foot  of 
it ;  and  then,  leaving  the  boat,  go  across  to  Nain.  It 
couldn't  be  more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from 
the  foot  of  the  bay.  We  could  start  off,  and,  with  a 
strong  spurt,  do  it  in  a  week  from  that  place,  I  think. 
We  should,  at  least,  be  sure  of  getting  seals  for  food. 
But  Eaed  don't  think  it  best." 

"  Why  not  ?  " 

"Well,  he  says,  that,  by  the  time  we  get  into  Un- 
gava Bay,  it  will  begin  to  freeze  ice  nights,  enough  to 
stop  us.  He  thinks,  too,  that  we  should  suffer  a  good 
deal  more  from  cold  on  the  water  than  on  the  land. 
Then  we  should  have  to  wait  for  favorable  winds,  and 
be  laid  up  through  storms,  besides  the  danger  of  get- 
ting capsized  in  gusts,  and  caught  in  the  ice-patches. 
But  he  has  agreed  to  leave  it  to  the  party  to  decide.  I 
know  the  two  sailors  will  vote  to  go  by  boat ;  but  I'm 
not  sure  Raed  is  not  right,  after  all.  He's  a  better  judge 
than  any  of  the  rest  of  us,  I  do  suppose.  I  have  a  hor- 
ror of  starting  off  inland,  though." 

A  very  reasonable  horror,  I  considered  it.  Any  thing 
but  toiling  over  sterile  mountains,  for  me. 

We  sat  there  for  a  long  time  looking  off,  pondering 
the  situation.  Suddenly  my  eye  caught  on  a  tiny 
brown  speck  far  to  the  northward.  I  watched  it  a  mo- 
ment, then  spoke  to  Kit.  He  took  out  his  glass  and 
looked. 


212  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"That's  some  sort  of  a  boat,"  he  said  at  length. 
"  Brown  sail !  That's  a  Husky  boat,  I  reckon,  —  an 
oomiak," 

I  took  the  glass.  The  craft  was  heading  southward ; 
coming,  it  seemed,  either  for  the  islet  we  were  on,  ot 
else  the  large  island  to  the  south-east.  I  could  see 
black  heads  under  the  large,  irregular  sail. 

"  Coming  down  to  the  Labrador  side,"  Kit  remarked. 
"  I've  heard  that  they  spend  the  summer  on  the  north 
side  of  the  straits  ;  go  up  in  the  spring,  and  come  back 
here  to  Labrador  in  the  latter  part  of  the  season." 

"  There  are  kayaks  with  it,"  he  said,  with  the  glass  to 
his  eye,  —  "one  on  each  side  ;  and  there  are  one  or  two, 
perhaps  more,  behind." 

In  the  course  of  an  hour  it  had  come  down  within 
three  miles,  bearing  off  toward  the  large  island. 

"  We  had  best  get  out  of  sight,  I  guess,"  Kit  observed. 
"  Don't  care  to  attract  them  or  frighten  them." 

We  went  back  a  little  behind  the  rocks  ;  and  Kit  ran 
down  to  tell  the  rest  of  the  party.  They  came  back  with 
them,  —  all  but  Weymouth,  who  was  not  very  well,  and 
had  lain  down  for  a  nap. 

"  That's  a  big  oomiak ! "  exclaimed  Eaed,  taking  a 
long  look  at  it.  "  One  —  two  —  three  —  five  —  seven 
kayaks." 

"  How  many  do  you  make  out  in  the  big  boat  ?  "  Kit 
asked. 

"Nineteen  —  twenty;  and  I  don't  know  how  many 
behind  the  sail,"  Raed  replied. 

"  Those  arc  the  women  and  children,  I  suppose,"  Wade 
•aid. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  213 

"Wade's  thinking  of  the  Husky  belles,"  Kit  re- 
marked with  a  wink  to  me;  "of  the  one  he  gave  the 
scarf  to.  Let's  see :  what  was  her  name  ?  " 

"  Ikewna,"  I  suggested. 

"  I've  noticed  Wade  has  heen  a  little  distrait  for  some 
time,"  Raid  observed.  "  Possible  he  sighs  for  the  beau- 
teous Ikewna  !  " 

Wade  laughed. 

"  Somebody  else  was  a  little  sweet  on  a  certain  yel- 
low-gloved damsel:  rather  stout  she  was,  if  I  recollect 
aright.  Mind  who  that  was,  Raed?" 

"  Ah  !  you  refer  to  Pussay,"  Raed  replied.  "  Well, 
she  was  a  trifle  adipose.  But  that's  a  merit  in  this 
country,  I  should  judge.  Lean  folks  never  could  stand 
these  winters." 

" And  where  now  is  the  beautiful  ' White  Goose'  I 
wonder !  "  Kit  exclaimed. 

"And  black-eyed  Caubvickf"  said  I.  "Answer, 
Echo!" 

"  This  crew  may  be  a  part  of  the  same  lot,"  Donovan 
suggested. 

"  It  isn't  likely,"  said  Kaed.  "  We  are  now  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  farther  west  than  the  Middle  Savage  Isles. 
It  is  hardly  possible.  But  I  dare  say  they  are  as  much 
like  them  as  peas  in  a  pod." 

The  oomiak  passed  us  about  a  mile  to  the  eastward, 
and,  approaching  the  shore  of  the  large  island,  was  luffed 
up  to  the  wind  handsomely.  More  than  a  dozen  dogs 
leaped  out,  and  went  splashing  to  the  shore.  The  men 
landed  from  the  kayaks,  and,  wading  out  into  the  water, 
'aid  hold  of  the  oomiak,  and,  guiding  it  in  on  the  swell* 


214  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

carried  it  up  high  and  dry.  Several  of  the  children  had 
jumped  out  with  the  dogs.  The  women,  old  folks,  and 
younger  children,  now  followed.  The  shore  fairly 
swarmed.  We  could  hear  them  shouting,  screaming, 
and  jabbering,  and  the  dogs  barking.  Guard  looked  off 
and  growled  slightly,  turning  his  great  dark  eyes  in- 
quiringly to  our  faces. 

"  He  don't  like  the  looks  of  them,"  said  Donovan : 
"remembers  the  fuss  he  had  with  them  when  they 
chased  Palmleaf  and  him." 

"  They  seem  to  be  preparing  to  stop  there,  I  should 
say,"  Kit  remarked.  "  They've  pulled  up  the  oomiak 
some  way  from  the  water,  out  of  reach  of  the  tide,  and 
are  unloading  it.  There  are  quantities  of  skins,  tents, 
harpoons,  &c.  There !  they  are  all  starting  up  from  the 
water,  loaded  down  with  trumpery,  —  going  off  from  the 
shore  toward  the  middle  of  the  island." 

They  had  not  seen  us;  and,  after  watching  them  dis- 
appear among  the  barren  hillocks,  we  went  back  to  our 
camp  for  dinner.  Unless  they  came  along  to  the  ex- 
treme western  end  of  the  large  island,  they  would  not 
discover  our  camp.  At  first,  we  decided  to  have  nothing 
to  do  with  them.  We  had  nothing  in  the  "  chymo " 
line  except  Wade's  broken  bayonet.  They  would  only 
be  a  nuisance  with  us. 

"  But,  if  we  could  contrive  to  make  them  catch  seals 
for  us  for  fuel,  it  might  be  worth  while  to  cultivate  their 
acquaintance  a  little,"  Kit  suggested. 

"  If  we  could  get  a  seal  a  day  from  them  for  our  fire, 
it  might  be  a  good  plan  enough,"  Wade  thought. 

"  But  we've  nothing  to  pay  them  with  ;   unless  we 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  215 

paid  them  in  promises  of  iron  and  knives  when  our  ship 
comes  back,"  I  said.  "  I  don't  suppose  our  greenbacks 
would  be  a  legal  tender  witb  them." 

"  But,  in  case  '  The  Curlew '  should  not  come  back. 
vsre  might  not  be  aluy  to  redeem  our  promises,"  Eaed  re- 
aiarked. 

"  In  that  case,*'  said  Kit,  "  we  might  as  well  marry 
all  their  daughters,  and  take  up  our  abode  here.  As  their 
sons-in-law,  we  could  perhaps  excuse  it  to  them." 

"Possibly  the  daughters  might  object  to  this  arrange- 
ment," said  Wade. 

"  Why,  you  don't  doubt  your  ability  to  win  the  affec- 
tions of  a  Husky  belle,  do  you  ?  "  demanded  Kit,  laugh- 
ing. 

"  I  doubt  if  our  accomplishments  would  be  rated  very 
high  among  the  fair  Esquimaux,"  said  Kaed.  "Not  to 
be  able  to  catch  seals  is  deemed  a  great  disgrace  with 
them.  Our  going  to  them  to  beg  seal-blubber  would  be 
a  very  black  mark.  We  should  be  looked  upon  much  in 
the  light  of  paupers.  No  young  Husky  thinks  of  pro- 
posing to  his  lady-love  till  he  has  become  an  expert  seal- 
catcher." 

"  It  seems  hard  not  to  be  thought  eligible  even  by  a 
Husky  family,"  Kit  observed.  "  But  let's  go  over  there 
and  see  what  we  can  do.  If  we  can't  trade  with  them, 
we  might  lay  them  under  contribution  by  force  of  arms. 
What  say  to  beginning  our  career  as  conquerors  by  sub- 
jugating that  island  of  Esquimaux,  and  levying  a  seal- 
tax  ?  That's  the  way  our  Saxon  ancestors  first  entered 
England.  Has  the  sanction  of  history,  you  see,  —  as  far 
down  even  as  the  ex-emperor  Napoleon  III." 


21G  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  You  can't  be  in  earnest/'  said  Raed,  suddenly  look- 
ing  round  to  him. 

"  I  am,"  said  Kit.  "  Decidedly  the  easiest  way  (for 
us)  to  deal  with  them.  If  we  were  to  go  over  there  with 
a  show  of  authority,  they  wouldn't  make  much  resistance, 
I'm  very  sure.  We  would  take  possession  ot  their 
oomiaJc.  That  would  hold  them  to  the  island.  They 
couldn't  get  off  without  that,  —  at  least,  the  women  and 
children  couldn't ;  and  the  men  would  not  desert  their 
families." 

"  Now,  there's  a  scheme  of  rapine  worthy  of  Caesar ! " 
sneered  Raed.  "  Kit,  I  am  ashamed  of  you  ! " 

"  I  don't  care.  We're  in  a  tight  place.  I  don't  mean 
them  any  harm.  But,  if  we  are  going  to  be  dependent 
on  them  for  our  supplies,  it  will  be  much  better  for  us  to 
have  them  under  our  authority.  The}r're  a  mere  set  of 
ignorant  heathens.  We  know  more  than  they  do;  and 
it  is  but  fair  that  the  wisest  should  govern." 

"That's  the  very  argument  the  old  piratical  sea-kings 
of  Norway  used  to  use  !  "  Raed  exclaimed.  "  It's  about 
a  thousand  years  behind  civilized  times !  " 

"Not  so  far  behind  the  times  as  that,  I  guess,"  Kit 
replied.  "But  I  don't  care:  this  is  a  force-put  with  us. 
We  don't  want  to  place  ourselves  in  the  power  of  those 
savages.  Yet  we  need  their  assistance,  —  assistance  for 
which  we  will  repay  them  well  when  '  The  Curlew ' 
comes,  — if  it  comes.  Now,  I  say  it  is  best  for  us,  and 
will  be  better  for  them,  to  have  them  do  as  we  want 
them  to  while  we  are  on  their  island." 
•  "  In  a  word  you  propose  to  make  slaves  of  them,"  re- 
marked Raed.  "  You  mean  to  deprive  them  of  their  lib- 
erty." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  217 

"  Yes,  to  a  certain  extent,  I  do." 

"  T  am  sorry  to  hear  you  talk  in  this  way.  I  hoped  110 
citizen  of  a  free  State  would  use  language  like  that." 

"  Sorry  to  shock  your  sincere  convictions,"  replied 
Kit ;  "  but  when  it  comes  to  making  slaves  of  others, 
or  being  a  slave  myself,  I  should  choose  the  former  alter- 
native always." 

"  But  there's  no  such  alternative  in  this  case,"  Raed 
argued. 

"Not  exactly.  Still  I  shall  hold  to  my  first  opinion. 
If  we  are  going  to  take  supplies  from  them, —  as  it  seems 
necessary  that  we  should,  —  I  think  it  will  be  better  to 
have  them  under  our  control  as  long  as  we  are  here.  You 
mistake  me :  I  don't  justify  it  from  principle ;  but,  as  a 
temporary  measure,  I  think  it  expedient." 

"So  was  it  expedient  for  the  old  Romans  to  attack 
and  capture  Corinth  and  Carthage,  and  just  as  fair  and 
right." 

"  That  merely  shows  how  history  repeats  itself," 
laughed  Kit. 

"  Don't  laugh,  sir ! "  cried  Raed.  "  The  principle  is 
the  same,  as  if,  with  a  hundred  thousand  men  at  your 
back,  you  should  land  in  England,  and  undertake  to  sub- 
due that  island  instead  of  this." 

"  You  have  a  very  forcible  way  of  putting  things,  I'll 
allow ;  but  there's  danger,  Raed,  of  carrying  general 
principles  too  far." 

"For  example,"  interrupted  Wade.  "Raed,  with  a  num- 
ber of  Other  abolitionists,  believed  that  all  men  ought  to 
be  free:  so  they  kept  to  work  stirring  up  bvd  feeling  be- 
tween the  North  and  South  till  the  war  broke  out,  when 


218  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

they  fell  upon  us  with  their  armies  and  fleets,  and  com- 
mitted the  most  wholesale  piece  of  robbery  that  ever 
disgraced  history,  —  robbed  us  of  several  billion  dollars' 
worth  of  property,  all  at  one  swoop." 

"  To  what  sort  of  property  do  you  refer  ?  "  Raed  asked. 

"  Slaves." 

"  I  thought  so ! " 

"  Then  you  are  not  disappointed  in  my  '  principles,'  aa 
you  choose  to  term  them  ?  " 

"Not  in  the  least!" 

"  I,  at  least,  have  never  tried  to  conceal  them." 

'•  I  should  expect  you  to  favor  Kit's  proposition ;  but 
I'm  sadly  surprised  to  hear  Kit  make  it." 

"  Understand  me ! "  exclaimed  Kit.  "  I  advocate  it 
merely  as  a  temporary  measure,  only  justified  by  our 
necessity.  I  mean  to  pay  them  for  all  we  have.  But 
we  haven't  the  pay  here.  They  wouldn't  trust  us  for 
what  we  want.  Under  these  circumstances,  I  mean  to 
assume  the  control  of  their  affairs  for  a  few  days  or  weeks, 
as  the  case  may  be,  and  get  what  we  must  have  by  force 
of  authority  —  till  we  can  pay." 

"  It's  nothing  more  nor  less  than  robbery,  Kit ! "  cried 
Eaed ;  "  a  mere  subterfuge,  in  open  violation  of  the  free 
principles  of  the  noble  land  we  hail  from ! " 

"Too  bad,  I  know,"  said  Kit;  "but  'needs  must 
where  a  certain  person  drives.' " 

"  Kit,  you  shock  me !  Do  you  not  believe  in  an  all- 
wise  Providence  ?  " 

"  Generally  speaking,  yes." 

"  A  Power  that  takes  care  of  us  ?  "  ,  V 

"  Yes,  again ;  but  it's  after  a  sort  not  very  flatteriu^; 
to  the  personal  vanity  of  us  poor  mortals."  «. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  219 

"One  would  naturally  suppose,  that,  situated  as  we  are 
at  present,  where  the  prospect  of  our  getting  through 
the  next  six  months  is  so  poor,  you  would  hesitate  at 
prcroking  that  Power  hy  such  an  act  as  this  you  pro- 
pose." 

"  Raed,  that's  all  bosh  !  If  you  mean  to  ask  me  if  I 
believe  that  there  is  a  Power  that  will  interfere  miracu- 
lously to  rescue  us  from  freezing  or  starving  here,  I 
answer  promptly,  I  do  not.  God  doesn't  work  so.  Per- 
sons have  to  take  the  consequences  of  their  own  acts  in 
this  world,  now-a-days.  And  as  regards  tempting  Prov- 
idence by  doing  any  thing  of  the  sort  I  proposed, — 
tempting  it  to  some  act  of  vengeance  on  us,  —  bosh  again ! 
God  doesn't  work  that  way  at  all.  Besides,  to  come 
back  to  the  subject  in  hand,  I've  no  conscientious  scru- 
ples about  it ;  for  I  believe  it  to  be  the  best  thing  we 
can  do." 

"  I  protest ! "  Raed  exclaimed.  "  It  is  neither  just  nor 
right ! " 

"Well,  how's  this  matter  to  be  settled?"  Wade  de- 
manded. "  I  suppose  so  rigid  a  republican  as  E.aed  will 
be  willing  to  have  it  decided  by  vote  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Raed,  "  though  I  lament  the  issue.  Call 
our  names,  Kit.  Those  in  favor  of  Kit's  proposition  will 
vote  '  Yea : '  those  who  believe  it  wrong  will  vote 
'Nay.'" 

Kit's  voice  trembled  a  little  as  he  began. 

"  Eaed  ?  " 

"Nay." 

"  Wash  ?  " 

"  Nay." 


220  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Wade  ?  " 

"  Yea." 

"  Donovan  ?  " 

«  Yea." 

"  Weymouth  ?  " 

«  Yea." 

"!Not  to  include  my  own  vote  with  the  affirmative, 
there  is  a  majority  in  favor  of  the  measure  we  have  just 
discussed,"  said  Kit  gravely. 

"  Please  put  it  in  words,"  said  Eaed. 

"  Why,  we  all  know  what  I  mean,"  replied  Kit. 

"  But  I  want  to  hear  it  stated,"  insisted  Eaed. 

"  Well,  then,  there  is  a  majority  in  favor  of  the  tem- 
porary occupation  and  control  of  yonder  island,  —  a  meas- 
ure justified  by  our  necessity." 

"  You  have  put  it  very  mildly,"  remarked  Eaed.  "  I 
should  give  it  in  very  different  terms.  Kit,  I  am  dis- 
gusted with  this  movement.  I  can't  give  it  any  sympa- 
thy whatever." 

"  You  are  not  going  to  secede,  I  hope,"  sneered  Wade. 

"  I  am  not,"  said  Eaed,  turning  in  a  passion.  "  I  am, 
I  hope,  too  good  a  patriot  to  be  a  secessionist,  much  less 
a  rebel" 

For  a  moment  they  looked  straight  at  each  other. 
Wade's  eyes  snapped,  and  his  hands  clinched. 

"  Here,  here !  —  come,  none  of  that ! "  exclaimed  Kit, 
"  or  I'll  thrash  both  of  you.  Wade,  you  are  to  blame. 
You  said  the  first  unkind  thing.  You  ought  to  awk  his 
pardon." 

"  He  needn't  do  that,"  said  Eaed.  "  I  was  tt  ' >lame 
as  well  as  he." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  221 

"  Well,  that's  magnanimous ! "  exclaimed  Wade,  sud- 
denly relenting.  "  BegV  pardon,  old  fellow !  I  was  to 
blame." 

And  we  all  laughed  in  spite  of  the  qualms  sticking  in 
our  throats. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

We  set  up  a  Military  Despotism  on  "Isle  Aktok."  — "No  IJetterthan  Fili- 
busters!"—The  Seizure  of  the  Oomiak.  — The  Seal-Tax.  — A  Case  of 
Discipline.  —  Wutcheq  and  Wunchee. — The  Inside  of  a  Husky  Hut.— 
«'  Eigh,  Eigh  I "  —  An  Esquimau  Ball.  —  A  Funeral.  —  Wutchee  and  Wun- 
cbee'a  Cookery.  —  The  Esquimau  Whip. 

"   T)  AED,  will  you  act  as  leader,  or  captain  ?  "  Kit 

JL\  asked. 

"  I  decline,"  was  the  reply.  "  It  is  hardly  fair  to  ask 
me,  I  think.  That  honor  —  if  you  look  upon  it  as  such 
—  is  clearly  yours." 

"Very  well,  then.     All  hands  launch  the  boat!" 

It  was  done. 

"  Load  in  the  walrus-hides." 

They  were  rolled  up  and  thrown  in. 

"  Ship  the  spider  too." 

I  carried  it  aboard. 

"Now  each  man  spend  fifteen  minutes  attending  to 
liis  musket !  Get  off  all  rust !  See  that  the  locks  move 
easily !  Load  them,  and  fix  the  bayonets  !  " 

This  done,  we  called  Guard,  and  embarked ;  not  for- 
getting to  take  our  dipper  of  salt,  the  walrus-tusks,  an  3 
Wade's  broken  bayonet. 
"  "  Give  'way  ! "  was  the  order. 

222 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  223 

Wey  mouth  and  Douovan  dipped  the  oars ;  and  we 
darted  out  from  the  little  cove  beneath  the  ledges  where 
for  seven  days  we  had  kept  our  camp-fire  blazing.  Kit 
took  up  a  paddle,  and  from  the  stern  directed  our  course 
toward  the  larger  island. 

"  I  can't  see  what  better  we  are  than  any  gang  of 
desperadoes  or  filibusters,"  Raed  remarked. 

"  Circumstances  alter  cases,  Raed,"  replied  Kit. 

"  Now,  for  God's  sake,  don't  shed  the  blood  of  any  of 
the  poor  wretches  !  "  Raed  said. 

"  Never  fear :  we  will  manage  it  without  killing  any 
of  them,  I  guess." 

On  coming  up  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  the  shore, 
we  surveyed  it  carefully.  There  were  none  of  the  Es- 
quimaux in  sight,  however,  to  oppose  our  landing ;  and 
the  boat  was  rowed  along  to  within  four  or  five  hundred 
jrards  of  the  place  where  the  oomiak  and  kayaks  had 
been  drawn  up  on  the  shore.  Landing,  we  drew  up  our 
boat  between  two  large  rocks,  and  went  along  to  where 
the  oomiak  lay. 

"  What  a  great  scow  of  a  craft  it  is ! "  exclaimed  Wey- 
niouth. 

"  Not  less  than  thirty-five  or  forty  feet  long,"  Raed 
remarked. 

"  Seven  feet  wide,  certain,"  said  Wade. 

"  That's  walrus-hide  that  it  is  covered  with,  I  think," 
said  Kit ;  "  four  or  five  hides  sewed  together.  We  might 
have  our  two  sewed  together  for  a  tent." 

"  We'll  have  them  do  it  for  us  after  we've  got  ou* 
dynasty  established,"  said  Wade. 

"  Forward,  now  !  "  cried  Kit. 


224  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

We  followed  their  trail  up  from  their  canoes ;  and,  after 
crossing  several  ledgy  ridges,  at  length  espied  their  en- 
campment, distant  about  half  a  mile  from  the  water.  It 
was  in  a  hollow,  surrounded  by  crags  and  rocks.  The 
place  had  probably  been  chosen  on  account  of  its  shel- 
tered situation.  It  was  doubtless  an  old  haunt  of  theirs. 

"Now  form  in  line,  boys,"  Kit  requested,  "and  move 
on  steadily  ! " 

We  did  so,  Guard  walking  soberly  behind  us.  There 
were  five  tents  of  seal-skin  clustered  together  near  what 
we  discovered  to  be  a  spring,  or  run,  of  water.  Half  a  dozen 
Huskies  were  in  sight,  moving  about  the  camp ;  and,  the 
moment  our  approach  was  discovered,  they  came  pouring 
out  to  the  number  of  thirty  or  forty.  As  we  came  up,  a 
few  scattered,  and  ran  off  among  the  crags;  but  the 
greater  part  stood  huddled  together. 

"  Now  keep  cool,  boys  ! "  Kit  advised.  "  Don't  fire  in 
any  case,  unless  I  give  the  word,  —  except  Wade.  He 
may  fire  his  musket  in  the  air  when  we  come  close  to 
them,  by  way  of  giving  them  a  foretaste  of  what  we  can 
do." 

When  we  had  come  up  facing  them  to  within  three  or 
four  yards,  Kit  gave  the  order  to  halt.  Wade  fired  his 
inusket.  The  swarthy,  long-haired  crowd  stared  hard  at 
us  in  perfect  silence.  Kit  then  advanced  a  little,  and 
pointing  to  us,  and  then  to  himself,  exclaimed  in  a  loud 
voice,  — 

«  Cob-loo-nak  !  "  ("  Englishmen ! ") 

And,  by  way  of  giving  emphasis  to  the  announcement, 
he  repeated  it  several  times.  Then,  pointing  off  to  the 
east  and  north,  he  said,  — 


LEFT  CX  LABRADOR.  225 

"  Oomiak-sook  f  "  ("  Big  ship ! ") 

And,  when  this  had  been  duly  repeated,  he  cried 
out,  — 

"  Chymo  —  aunay  !  "  ("  The  trade  is  far  off!  ") 

"Now the  next  thing  is  to  seize  the  comiak"  said  he. 
'*  We  will  make  them  help  us  bring  it  up  here.  I'll  de- 
tail a  party  for  that  purpose." 

He  now  pointed  off  to  the  shore  with  the  word  oomiak, 
and,  stepping  up  to  one  of  the  men,  laid  his  hand  on  his 
shoulder,  and  made  signs  for  him  to  go  with  us.  The 
man,  a  stout,  short  fellow,  seemed  partly  to  comprehend 
his  meaning,  and  rather  reluctantly  moved  out  from  his 
fellows. 

"We  shall  want  as  many  as  seven  or  eight  of  them," 
remarked  Wade. 

"  Form  a  ring  around  this  one,  then,  while  I  get  out 
another,"  said  Kit. 

But  the  second  one  backed  off  as  Kit  approached  him, 
gesticulating,  and  shouting,  "Na-mick,  na-mick  /  "  and, 
on  Kit's  laying  his  hand  on  his  shoulder,  he  let  out  a 
"  straight  left  "  with  considerable  vim. 

"  Donovan,"  said  Kit,  "  take  hold  of  him  ! " 

Don  made  a  rush,  and,  clutching  one  hand  into  his 
hair,  shook  him  about,  tripped  him  up,  and  held  the 
point  of  the  butcher-knife  at  his  throat.  The  savage 
howled  and  begged.  With  a  single  effort  Donovan  set 
him  on  his  feet,  and  thrust  him  into  the  ring.  The 
third,  fourth,  and  fifth  man  came  out  at  a  mere  tap  on 
the  shoulder.  But  the  sixth  —  a  little  dark  fellow  — 
jumped  back  when  Kit  stepped  up  to  him,  and  struck 
with  a  rough  dagger-shaped  weapon  made  of  a  walrus- 

15 


226  LEFT  °N  LABRADOR. 

tusk.  Indeed,  it  was  a  wonder  he  had  not  stabbed  him; 
for  the  movement  was  remarkably  quick  and  cat-like. 
Donovan  sprang  forward ;  but  Kit  caught  his  arm,  and 
dealt  him  a  blow  with  his  fist  that  sent  him  reeling  to 
the  ground.  Don  seized  him  by  the  collar  of  his  bear- 
skin smock,  and,  with  a  twitch  and  a  kick,  sent  him 
spinning  into  the  ring.  Several  of  the  remaining  men 
had  run  to  their  tents,  and  now  re-appeared  with  har- 
poons in  their  hands.  Kit  took  his  musket,  and,  walk- 
ing up  to  one  of  them,  struck  the  dart  out  of  his  hand 
with  a  tweak  of  the  bayonet,  and  then  walked  him  along 
to  the  ring. 

"  I  guess  seven  will  be  enough,"  said  Wade. 

"Well,  keep  round  them,"  replied  Kit.  "Don't  let 
"cm  get  away  from  us.  Ready !  Forward,  march !  " 

We  turned  to  go  down  to  the  oomiak,  and  had  pro- 
ceeded a  few  steps,  when  some  of  the  savages  about  the 
huts  suddenly  shouted  "Ka-ka,  ka-kaf"  In  an  in- 
stant their  dogs,  which  had  been  growling  and  prowling 
about  all  the  time,  rushed  after  us,  barking  madly. 
Guard  was  a  little  behind  us.  They  set  upon  him  like 
hungry  wolves.  Such  a  barking  and  snarling !  Kit 
and  Wade,  who  formed  the  rear-guard,  ran  to  the 
rescue.  Wade  laid  on  them  with  the  but  of  his  musket ; 
while  Kit,  with  his  bayonet,  gave  several  of  the  gaunt, 
wolfish  curs  thrusts  which  speedily  changed  their  growls 
to  yelps  of  agony.  The  savages  cried  out  dismally. 
Exclamations  of  "Mickee  f"  "  Arkut  mickee  I "  "Parut 
mickee  !  "  besought  us  not  to  kill  them.  They  had  set 
them  on  to  us,  nevertheless.  The  dog  riot  suppressed, 
we  moved  on  down  to  the  shore.  The  oomiak  was  then 


.EFT   ON  LABRADOR.  227 

turned  bottom  up,  and  the  mast  which  had  supported 
their  sail  thrust  under  it  transversely  about  ten  feet 
back  of  the  bows.  This  mast  was  a  stick  of  yellow  pine, 
from  Labrador  probably,  about  fifteen  feet  long.  It 
projected  four  or  five  feet  on  each  side,  —  far  enough  for 
them  to  take  hold  to  carry  the  oomiak  on  i^.  Wade  ran 
out  to  our  boat  and  brought  one  of  the  oars,  which  was 
thrust  under,  near  the  stern,  in  the  same  way.  Kit  then 
stationed  six  of  the  Huskies  at  the  mast-pole  forward, 
three  on  each  side :  the  other  he  placed  at  the  stern  end 
of  the  scow.  Weymouth  took  hold  of  one  end  of  the 
paddle,  and  Donovan  the  other.  Kit  then  made  signs  to 
the  Huskies  to  lift  at  their  pole.  They  raised  it ;  and  the 
sailors  lifting  the  stern  at  the  same  time,  and  walking 
on,  we  had  it  fairly  started.  It  was  pretty  heavy,  how- 
ever. The  Esquimaux  soon  began  to  pant ;  seeing  which, 
we  had  them  set  it  down  and  rest  every  thirty  or  foi  ty 
rods. 

We  were  near  an  hour  getting  back  to  their  hu~s. 
They  had  worked  well.  Their  part  of  the  load  must 
have  been  somewhat  over  a  hundred  pounds  per  man, 
we  thought. 

"Better  than  niggers;  a  great  deal  better,"  Wade 
pronounced  them.  "  I'm  not  sure  that  it  wouldn't  be  a 
good  plan  to  import  them  into  the  United  States  to  work 
on  our  railroads." 

"  For  slaves,  I  suppose,"  said  Kaed. 

"No;  not  for  slaves.  Now  that  slavery  is  fairly 
abolished,  I- am  not  much  in  favor  of  its  re-establish- 
ment. Take  them  down  to  work  for  fair  wages. 
Should  as  lief  have  them  as  to  have  the  Chinese,  and 
«ask  if." 


228  l>KF'f  f>N   LABRADOR. 

"That  makes  me  think,"  Kit  remarked,  "that  1  have 
read  that  some  ethnologists  thinx  the  Esquimaux  are  a 
branch  of  the  Chinese  nation." 

"You  would  send  vessels  like  the  cooly  ships  up  here 
to  kidnap  them,  I  suppose,"  Eaed  observed.  "You 
could  only  carry  them  away  by  main  force.  They  are 
too  much  attached  to  their  bleak  home  to  leave  it  volun- 
tarily." 

"Well,  what  of  that,"  said  Wade.  "Don't  be  so 
dreadfully  afraid  to  have  a  little  force  used  !  If  it  would 
permanently  better  their  condition,  why  not  bring  the 
whole  nation  of  them  farther  south  by  force.  A  horde 
of  ignorant  savages  like  these  don't  always  know  what's 
best  for  them,  by  a  long  sight.  If  all  these  polar  tribes 
could  be  brought  down  into  a  milder  climate,  it  would  be 
vastly  better  for  them.  So  of  the  ignorant,  brutish 
negroes  of  Africa :  if  they  could  be  got  out  of  their  bar- 
barous haunts,  and  brought  up  into  the  latitude  of  New 
York  and  Paris,  it  would  be  vastly  better  for  them ;  and 
they  might  be  made  to  do  something  useful  in  the 
world.  Millions  of  hands  are  lying  idle  in  Africa,  which, 
under  proper  direction,  might  be  turned  to  some  account, 
and  made  to  contribute  both  to  the  world's  progress  and 
their  own  happiness.  But,  of  course,  such  savage  tribes 
will  never  move  of  their  own  accord :  it  remains  for 
more  enlightened  nations  to  move  them." 

"  That's  an  argument  for  the  re-opening  of  the  slave- 
trade,  I  presume,"  Eaed  remarked. 

"Oh,  no !  You  judge  me  too  severely.  I  meant  just 
what  I  said  ;  nothing  more." 

"  If  what  Wade  proposes  could  be  done  without  violent 


LEFT   ON  LABRADOR. 


usage,  suffering,  and  injustice,  I  think  it  would  be  a  great 
and  good  work,"  said  Kit. 

"  Well,  in  that  I  agree  with  you  fully,"  replied  Raed  ; 
"but  the  trouble  would  be  to  find  a  nation  or  a  com- 
pany that  would  deal  justly  and  humanely  with  such 
savages." 

We  let  them  rest  an  hour  after  bringing  up  the 
oomiak  ;  then  started  them  back  to  bring  up  our  own 
boat,  with  our  spider  and  walrus-skins.  This  took  till 
nearly  six  o'clock,  evening.  The  walrus-skins  were  then 
unrolled,  and  spread  out  on  the  ground. 

"Now  we  want  these  sewed  together,"  said  Kit: 
"then  we  can  pitch  them  on  their  oomiak-mast  for  a 
tent-pole." 

Wade  spread  out  the  two  skins  so  that  the  edges 
touched  each  other  :  then,  beckoning  to  one  of  the  men, 
.he  pointed  first  to  the  edges,  next  to  the  seams  where 
the  hide  had  been  sewed  on  the  oomiak,  then  off  to  the 
huts,  pronouncing  the  word  "hennclay"  ("woman"). 
The  savage  understood  him  in  a  moment,  and  went  off 
into  the  hut.  Presently  two  chubby  faces  appeared  at  the 
doorway,  but  shrank  back  the  moment  we  espied  them. 
We  could  hear  a  great  talking  and  urging  going  on 
inside.  After  a  while,  when  we  had  gone  to  move  the 
oomiak  round  so  as  to  form  one  side  of  a  sort  of  fort,  they 
stole  out,  and  came  reluctantly  along,  the  man  following 
them,  apparently  to  keep  them  from  escaping.  Seeing 
them  approaching,  Kit  and  Wade  went  to  meet  them, 
smiling  and  bowing,  and  pointing  to  the  walrus-skins. 
They  knew  what  was  wanted,  and  fell  to  work  to  sew 
the  two  hides  together,  occasionally  casting  shy  eyci 


230  ^FT  ON  LABRADOR. 

toward  us.  What  amused  us  was,  that  each  was  the 
exact  counterpart,  of  the  other.  They  were  just  of  a 
size,  and  of  the  same  height.  Face,  features,  and  ex- 
pression were  identical.  The  man,  who  might  possibly 
have  heen  their  father,  but  more  probably  their  elder 
brother,  saw  our  amazed  looks,  and  said  "  Bi-coit-suk :  " 
at  least,  it  sounded  like  that.  The  meaning  of  the  word 
we  could  only  guess  at.  But,  if  bi-coit-suk  does  not 
mean  twins,  I  am  greatly  mistaken.  On  questioning 
the  man,  using  the  word  kina,  and  pointing  to  each, 
we  learned,  after  he  understood  us,  that  one  was  named 
Wutchee,  and  the  other  Wunchee.  The  meanings  of 
these  words  I  have  no  need  to  translate  :  they  were  de- 
cidedly significant,  and  amused  us  a  good  deal.  For 
sewing  the  hides  together  they  used  an  awl  of  bone. 
The  thread,  which  was  of  the  sinew  of  some  animal,  was 
thrust  through  the  awl-holes  like  a  shoemaker's  waxed- 
end,  and  drawn  tight.  When  they  had  finished,  Kit 
gave  Wutchee  (or  Wunchee,  for  the  life  of  me  I  couldn't 
tell  which)  a  half-dozen  pins  from  a  round  pin-ball  he 
cherished,  and  three  or  four  bright  nickel  five-cent  bits. 
Wade  then  gave  Wunchee  (?)  his  pen-knife,  and  an  old 
cuff-button  he  happened  to  have  in  his  pocket.  They 
accepted  these  presents  as  modest  as  you  please;  but  it 
did  seem  a  little  droll  to  see  them  immediately  fall  to 
licking  them  all  over  with  their  tongues.  They  did  not 
seem  to  act  as  if  they  considered  the  gifts  fairly  their 
own  till  they  had  licked  them.  We  had  not  observed 
this  practice  among  those  who  boarded  us  at  the  Middle 
Savage  Isles ;  but  with  these  the  custom  seemed  a 
universal  one  among  the  women.  Even  if  the  gift  were 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  231 

a  rusty  nail,  they  would  lick  it  all  the  same.  It  is  said 
that  the  mothers  lick  their  young  children  over  like  she- 
bears.  Wade  also  gave  the  man  who  had  accompanied 
them  the  point  of  his  broken  hayonet.  The  fellow 
looked  it  over,  and  then,  getting  his  harpoon,  unlashed 
the  bone  blade,  and  substituted  the  bayonet-point  in  its 
place. 

"lie  seems  to  understand  its  use,"  Kit  remarked. 
"  Hope  he  won't  experiment  with  it  on  us  unawares." 

The  walrus-skins  were  then  raised  on  the  oomiak 
mast,  the  edges  resting  on  the  bottoms  of  our  boat  and 
the  oomiak,  placed  ou  both  sides.  Stones  laid  along  the 
edges  held  them  in  place.  Not  to  be  too  near  our  sub- 
jects (for  they  were  rather  noisy,  and  smelled  pretty 
strong  of  rancid  fat),  we  had  placed  our  tent  about  two 
hundred  feet  away  from  their  huts.  While  the  rest  had 
been  pitching  the  tent,  Wade  and  Weymouth  had  con- 
structed a  rough  arch  of  stones,  and  set  our  spider  in 
the  top  of  it  as  we  had  previously  arranged  it. 

"  Ready  for  the  seal ! "  said  Wade. 

"They've  got  seal-blubber  about  their  huts;  I  saw 
some  of  the  young  ones  eating  chunks  of  it,"  Donovan 
remarked. 

Several  of  the  men  had  come  round  where  we  were  at 
work,  and  among  them  the  little  dark  chap  who  had 
tried  to  stab  Kit.  Wade  went  along  to  him,  and  point- 
ing to  his  own  mouth,  and  then  toward  the  mouths  of 
the  rest  of  us,  said,  " Pussay"  ("Seal").  But  the  fel- 
low was  still  sullen,  and  stared  defiantly. 

"Have  to  discipline  him  a  little,  I  reckon,"  Kit  mut 
tered, 


232  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Again  Wade  pronounced  the  word  pussay,  pointing 
off  toward  their  huts. 

"Na-mick!"  exclaimed  the  Esquimau  fractiously. 
•'Na-mick  !  Ik  pee-o  nar-kut  bok  !  "  swinging  his  arms. 
"Ik  pee-o  askut  ammee  pussay  !  " 

"Any  idea  what  he  said?"  Wade  asked,  turning  to 
Kit. 

"No  :  but  it  was  a  refusal ;  I  know  by  his  actions.  — • 
Donovan,  there's  another  job  for  you ! " 

Don  went  off  a  little  to  one  side,  and,  working  up 
toward  him,  made  a  sudden  lunge,  and  had  him  by  the 
hair  in  a  twinkling.  Such  a  shaking  as  the  poor  wretch 
got !  Then,  with  a  quick  trip,  Donovan  laid  him  flat  on 
his  back,  and,  jerking  out  his  big  knife,  began  strapping 
it  ominously  on  his  boot-leg.  Oh,  how  the  terrified  sav- 
age howled!  Raed  turned  away  in  disgust.  After 
frightening  him  nearly  into  fits  with  the  knife,  the  stal- 
wart sailor  with  a  twitch  threw  him  across  his  knee,  and 
applied  the  flat  of  the  butcher-knife  to  the  seat  of  his 
seal-skin  trousers  with  reports  that  must  have  been  dis- 
tinctly audible  for  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  All  the  Huskies 
came  rushing  up,  screaming  and  gesticulating.  The  dogs 
barked.  There  was  a  general  uproar.  After  three  or  four 
dozen  of  these  emphatic  reminders  of  arbitrary  power, 
Donovan  set  tlv3  shrieking  wretch  on  his  feet,  and,  still 
holding  on  to  hzs  hair,  shouted  in  his  face  the  word  pvs- 
say  a  dozen  times  in  a  tone  that  might  have  been  heard 
on  the  neighboring  islands.  Kit  and  Wade  and  Weyr 
mouth  all  fell  to  shouting  the  same  word ;  catching 
the  meaning  of  which,  more  than  a  dozen  of  the  Hus- 
kies, men  and  women  ran  to  their  huts,  and  brought 


LLfT  ON  LABRADOR.  233 

pieces  of  seal-blubber  to  the  amount  of  several  hundred- 
weight. The  little  dark  chap  disappeared,  and  we  saw 
no  more  of  him  for  two  days. 

"  Xow  we  want  some  eggs,"  said  Kit.  "  What's  the 
word  for  egg?" 

"Wau~ve,"  Eaed  replied. 

Wade  then  called  wau-ve  several  times  to  the  crowd. 
They  ran  off  again,  and  in  a  few  minutes  returned  with 
fifteen  or  twenty  of  the  razor-bill's  eggs ;  and  a  party 
immediately  set  off  toward  the  cliffs  for  more. 

"  I  admire  their  promptness,"  Kit  observed,  laughing. 

"  They  are  beginning  to  respect  us,"  said  Wade. 

"  But  would  it  not  have  been  far  better  to  have  come 
over  here  and  asked  them  kindly  for  what  we  wanted  ?  " 
Kaed  demanded. 

"  No,"  said  Kit ;  "  for  we  should  not  have  got  it." 

"  I  don't  know  about  that,"  replied  Raed. 

"  I  know  we  shouldn't,"  said  Wade.  "We  should  have 
got  a  square  na-mick  to  start  with  ;  and  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  they  would  have  attacked  us  with  their  dag- 
gers and  harpoons.  Then  we  should  have  been  obliged 
to  kill  a  lot  of  them  in  self-defence.  As  it  is,  we  haven't 
hurt  anybody  yet.  A  dose  of  spanks  won't  injure  anj' 
of  them,  I'll  warrant." 

"But  this  whole  business  is  revolting,  —  to  me,  at 
least,"  Eaed  continued. 

"  Oh,  I  guess  you  will  stand  it ! "  laughed  Kit.  <:  But, 
Raed,  if  I  were  you,  I  wouldn't  show  quite  so  much  of 
my  righteous  indignation.  You  want  your  supper  as 
well  as  the  rest  of  us." 

"  No  doubt." 


234  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  Well,  honestly,  old  fellow,  I  could  not  see  any  better 
»vay  to  get  it  for  you." 

"Well,  I  hoped  never  to  eat  a  supper  procured  by 
ilave-labor." 

"You  won't  notice  any  great  difference  in  the  taste,  \ 
laro  say,"  replied  Wade. 

Donovan  was  preparing  splints  from  the  old  thwart, 
and  covering  them  with  the  blubber  in  the  arch.  Ten 
or  a  dozen  of  the  Esquimaux  were  looking  on.  When 
he  struck  a  match  on  his  sleeve,  exclamations  of  wonder 
broke  out.  Matches  were  a  novelty  with  them.  From 
their  strange  looks,  and  glances  toward  each  other,  we 
concluded  that  they  took  us  to  be  either  great  saints,  or 
devils ;  most  likely  the  latter,  from  the  way  we  had 
previously  deported  ourselves.  The  eggs  were  fried,  and 
eaten  with  a  sprinkling  of  salt.  A  fire  of  seal-blubber 
was  probably  a  very  extravagant  luxury  in  the  eyes  of 
our  Husky  subjects.  They  had  no  fire  while  we  were 
with  them,  save  their  flickering  stone  lamps.  Yet  the 
use  of  cooked  food  seemed  not  to  be  wholly  unknown 
among  them.  On  several  occasions  we  saw  them  boil- 
ing, or  at  least  parboiling,  a  duck  in  a  stone  kettle  over 
five  or  six  of  their  lamps  set  together.  They  often  gave 
food  cooked  in  this  way  to  their  young  children,  and  in 
eases  where  any  of  their  number  are  sick.  If  wood  were 
plenty,  they  would  doubtless  soon  come  to  relish  it  best ; 
since  it  is  undoubtedly  the  scarcity  of  wood  which  has 
driven  them  to  raw  food. 

Whatever  we  did,  —  in  our  cooking,  eating,  and  in  all 
our  movements,  —  we  were  sure  of  a  curious  and  admir- 
ing crowd.  There  were,  in  all,  thirty-seven  of  the  Es- 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  235 

tjuimaux  on  the  island,  —  nine  men  and  eleven  women, 
adults  :  the  remaining  seventeen  ranged  from  one  to 
eighteen  years  apparently.  So  far  as  we  could  learn, 
they  kept  little  or  no  record  of  their  ages.  One  man, 
whom  they  called  Shug-la-wina,  seemed  to  exercise  a  sort 
of  authority  over  the  rest ;  but  whether  it  was  from  any 
hereditary  claim  to  power,  or  simply  from  the  fact  that 
he  was  rather  larger  in  stature  than  the  others,  was  not 
very  clear.  Another,  the  little  dark  chap  whom  Dono- 
van had  punished  for  his  snappishness,  was  almost  con- 
tinually slapping  and  cuffing  the  rest  about.  His  name 
was  Twee-goclc.  Besides  Wutchee  and  Wunchee,  there 
were,  of  the  girls,  one  named  Coonee, — a  very  laughing 
little  creature,  — and  another  called  Iglooee  ("hut-keep- 
er" or  "house-keeper").  Neither  of  these  was  so  large 
nor  so  handsome  as  Wutchee  or  Wunchee.  The  last  two 
were  Kit  and  Wade's  favorites. 

They  were  quaint  little  creatures,  just  about  four  feet 
and  a  half  in  height ;  chubby,  and  rather  fleshy ;  and 
would  have  weighed  rising  a  hundred  pounds,  probably. 
Their  faces  were  rather  larger  in  proportion  than  our 
American  girls,  rounder  and  flatter ;  noses  inclined  to 
the  pug  order ;  eyes  black,  and  pretty  well  drawn  up  at 
the  inner  corners ;  cheek-bones  rather  high,  though 
their  flesh  prevented  them  from  appearing  disagreeably 
prominent ;  mouths  large,  showing  large  white  teeth  ; 
ears  big  enough  to  hear  well ;  hair  black,  straight,  and 
occasionally  pugged  up  behind ;  complexion  swarthy, 
though,  in  their  case,  tolerably  clear ;  feet  very  small ; 
and  hands  sizable.  Add  to  this  description  an  ever- 
genial,  pleased  expression  of  countenance,  with  consid- 


236  LEFT  °N  LABRADOR. 

erablo  sprightliness  of  manner  dashed  with  something 
like  naivete  •  then  picture  them  in  trousers  and  jack- 
ets, with  their  hoods,  and  those  irresistibly  comical 
"  tails,"  —  and  you  have  Wutchee  and  Wunchee.  the 
belles  of  our  island  kingdom. 

After  our  supper  of  eggs,  of  which  they  soon  brought 
as  many  as  seven  or  eight  dozen,  Raed  proposed  that 
we  should  take  a  look  at  the  interior  of  some  of  their 
huts.  So,  leaving  the  two  sailors  with  Guard  on  senti- 
nel duty,  we  went  along  to  the  hut  belonging  to  Shuy- 
la-wina,  and  by  signs  expressed  our  desire  to  go  in. 
He  pulled  aside  the  flap  in  front,  and  we  stepped  under. 
The  tent-frame  was  of  small  sticks  of  the  yellow  pino, 
with  a  straight  ridge-pole.  Over  the  frame  was  thrown 
a  covering  of  cured  seal-skin  or  walrus-skin.  A  stone 
lamp,  suspended  by  seal-skin  thongs,  hung  at  tho 
farther  end.  It  was  burning  feebly.  The  wick  seemed 
to  be  of  long  fibres  of  moss.  The  lamp  itself  was 
simply  an  open  bowl  hollowed  out  of  a  stone,  about 
the  size  of  a  two-quart  measure.  The  oil  was  the  fat 
of  seals  or  walruses.  On  one  side  there  was  a  quantity 
of  fox-skins  and  bear-skins  thrown  down  promiscuously. 
Upon  these  reclined  Shug-la-winu? s  wife  Took-la-polz 
and  his  daughter  Iglooee.  Kit  made  them  a  present  of 
three  pins  each.  On  the  other  side  of  the  hut  there 
was  stowed  a  sledge,  with  runners  of  bone  firmly  lashed 
together  with  thongs.  On  it  was  a  stone  pot,  hollowed, 
like  the  lamp,  out  of  a  large  stone.  Several  "harpoons 
stood  in  the  farther  corner.  A  coil  of  thong  lay  011  tho 
sledge ;  also  two  whips  with  short  handles  of  bone,  but 
axeeedingly  long  lash  »s, —  not  less  than  fifteen  or 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  237 

twenty  feet  in  length.  There  were  lying  about  half  a 
dozen  tusks  of  the  walrus,  and,  on  a  low  stone  shelf,  a 
hundred-weight  or  more  of  seal-pork.  We  were  turn- 
ing to  go  out,  when  Wade  pointed  to  the  end  of  a  bow 
and  the  heads  of  two  arrows  protruding  from  under  the 
furs.  Kit  took  them  up^  but  Shufj-la-wina  very 
gravely  took  them  from  his  hands,  and  returned  them  to 
their  hiding-place.  The  bow  was  of  some  dark  bone,  I 
thought,  —  possibly  whalebone ;  the  bow-string  of  sinew ; 
and  the  arrows  of  wood,  but  provided  with  rough  iron 
heads.  The  sight  of  these  iron  heads  surprised  us  a 
little,  as  well  as  the  discovery  in  another  hut  of  an 
English  case-knife.  That  knife,  doubtless,  had  a  history. 
On  going  out,  Wade  took  up  one  of  the  bear-skins,  and 
pointed  off  to  our  tent. 

" Abb"  replied  the  Esquimau,  nodding. 

We  took  it  along  with  us.  The  other  huts  wera 
much  the  same  as  Shug-la-wina's.  We  got  a  bear-skin 
from  each.  Wutchee  and  Wunchee  gave  us  two. 
These  skins,  spread  over  a  "  shake-down  "  of  moss,  made 
us  a  very  comfortable  bed. 

By  this  time  it  was  past  ten  o'clock ;  and,  after  arran- 
ging for  regular  sentinel  duty,  —  two  hours  in  each  watch, 
—  we  turned  in  on  our  bear-skins,  save  Weymouth,  who 
had  the  first  watch.  But  we  were  horribly  disturbed  by 
the  incessant  barking,  growling,  and  fighting  of  their 
dogs.  Such  a  set  of  vicious,  snarling  curs  do  not  exist 
in  any  other  quarter  of  the  world,  I  hope.  They  were 
decidedly  the  most  troublesome  of  our  new  subjects. 
Guard  could  not  stir  out  away  from  us  without  being 
issaulted  tooth  and  nail.  Fights  of  from  two  to  half  i 


238  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

dozen  combatants  were  in  progress  all  night;  and  not 
only  that  night,  but  each  succeeding  night.  Several 
times  some  one  or  other  of  the  Huskies  would  rush  out 
from  their  huts,  and  lay  about  them  with  their  long 
whips,  shouting  "  JSigh,  eigh,  eigh!"  We  could  hear 
the  whips  snap,  followed  by  piteous  yelps  and  long- 
drawn  howls.  Then  there  would  be  silence  for  perhaps 
ten  minutes  :  by  that  time  another  fight  would  be  in  full 
blast. 

"  What,  for  thunder  sake,  do  they  keep  so  many  dogs 
for?"  growled  Donovan. 

"  To  draw  their  sledges  in  winter,"  I  heard  Haed  ex- 
plaining to  him.  .  .  . 

[Seventeen  pages,  containing,  as  appears  from  the 
chapter-head,  an  account  of  an  Esquimau  ball,  a  fu- 
neral, also  of  Wutchec?s  and  Wunchee's  cookery,  are  here 
missing  from  the  manuscript.  The  young  author  is  now 
absent  with  the  party  in  Brazil.  —  ED.] 

Strange  how  these  people  can  live  without  salt!  They 
make  no  use  of  it  with  their  food  ;  eat  fresh  seal-blubber, 
mainly,  all  their  lives.  No  wonder  they  look  flabby !  And 
yet  they  are  a  happy  set;  always  laughing,  joking,  and 
badgering  each  other.  Very  likely  their  joys  are  not  of 
a  very  high  order :  but  I  doubt  whether  civilization  would 
make  them  much  happier;  though,  according  to  the  the- 
ory of  us  civilized  folks,  it  ought  to.  They  lead  an  <?asy 
life,  —  easy,  in  a  savage  way;  though  breaking  up  clog- 
fights  does  keep  them  pretty  tolerably  busy.  To-<iay 
(Aug.  7)  we  had  a  perfect  dog-war.  Three  or  four <»f 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  239 

tne  ravening,  howling  curs  assaulted  Guard  under  the 
very  flap  of  our  tent.  Donovan  caught  up  a  musket, 
and,  running  out,  pinned  one  of  them  down  with  the 
bayonet,  and  held  him  for  some  seconds.  On  letting 
him  up,  the  dog  ran  off  howling,  with  the  blood  stream- 
ing out  of  him.  Instantly  all  the  rest  set  after  him, 
barking  like  furies.  Round  and  round  the  huts  they 
went,  all  snarling  and  snapping  at  the  wounded  one. 
Presently  out  rushed  old  Shuy-la-wina  and  Tivee-yock 
with  their  whips,  shouting  " Eigh,  eight"  and  laying 
about  them.  The  ^nds  of  the  thongs  cracked  like  pistol- 
shot?.  The  hair  and  hide  flew  up  from  the  dogs'  backs. 
As  fast  as  one  got  a  crack,  he  would  leap  up  and  run  off, 
licking  at  the  spot.  How  the  boys  laughed ! 

"  That's  a  savage  weapon ! "  exclaimed  Wade.  "  I 
should  about  as  lief  take  a  shot  from  a  revolver  as  one 
of  those  '  cracks '  on  my  bare  skin.  Moses,  how  it  would 
sting!" 

"1  don't  believe  it  would  hurt  through  anybody's 
thick  coat,"  Donovan  remarked. 

"  Humph  !  it  would  cut  right  through  to  a  fellow's 
hide  ! "  exclaimed  Kit. 

"Nonsense  ! " 

"  Bet  you  don't  dare  to  let  one  of  them  crack  at  you  ! " 

"  I  wouldn't  let  one  of  them  snap  at  my  back,  for  fear 
he  would  hit  my  ears  or  hands  instead ;  but  I  had  just 
as  lief  let  him  crack  at  my  leg  below  my  knee,  under  my 
boot-leg,  as  not." 

"Agreed!" 

Kit  ran  to  get  old  Shug-la-wina  with  his  whip. 

"Bet  my  musket  against  yours  that  you  can't  stand 
three  cracks  on  your  boot-leg!"  laughed  Wade. 


240  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  I  take  it !  "  cried  Donovan. 

In  a  few  minutes  Kit  came  back  with  the  old  Esqui- 
mau and  his  whip.  Signs  were  made  ;  and  Donovan 
raised  his  foot  on  a  rock,  exposing  his  boot-leg.  The 
veteran  Husky  began  to  yeh-yeh!  He  understood. 
Standing  off  about  twenty-five  feet,  he  gathered  the  lash 
up ;  then,  swinging  the  handle  around  his  head,  let  the 
long  thong  go  circling  around  him  like  a  black  snake. 
Faster  and  faster  revolved  the  black  gyres,  —  twenty 
times,  I  have  no  doubt.  Presently  he  fetched  a  snap. 
The  black  thong  shot  out  like  lightning.  Thut !  A 
bit  of  the  leather  flew  up,  spinning  in  the  air.  Dono- 
van caught  away  his  leg  with  a  profane  exclamation. 
We  crowded  round.  There  was  a  hole  in  the  boot- 
leg! 

"  Gracious  ! "  exclaimed  Wey mouth. 

Don  jerked  off  his  boot.  On  the  calf  of  his  leg  there 
was  a  mark  about  half  an  inch  wide,  and  an  inch  or  more 
in  length,  red  as  blood,  and  rapidly  puffing  up. 

"Have  another?"  demanded  Wade. 

"Not  much  !     One  will  do  for  me!" 

We  naturally  picked  up  a  good  many  words  of  their 
language;  though  of  its  structure — if  it  have  any — we 
learned  little.  Other  anxieties  occupied  our  minds  so 
fully,  that  we  were  not  very  attentive  scholars.  Like  the 
Indians  of  our  Territories,  the  Esquimaux  seemed  much 
addicted  to  running  a  whole  sentence  into  a  single  word, 
or  what  sounded  like  it,  of  immense  length.  These  sen- 
tence-words we  could  make  very  little  of.  But  of  their 
detached  words,  standing  for  familiar  things,  I  add  a 
vocabulary  from  such  as  I  can  now  call  to  mind :  — 


LEFT  ON   LABRADOR. 


241 


Pill  it-ay, 

Give.     Give  me  something 

f'floo, 

A  hut. 

Ir/loo-ee, 

A  hut-keeper. 

Waii^ve, 

An  egg. 

Mickee, 

A  dog. 

Tuk-tuk, 

A  reindeer. 

Muck-tu, 

A  caribou. 

Tuck-tu, 

Seal-blubber. 

Nenook, 

A  bear. 

Chymo, 

Trade;  barter. 

Eight 

Stop!     Holdup!    Get  out  I 

Karrack, 

Wood. 

Tyma, 

Good. 

Mai, 

Good. 

Negga-mai, 

Not  good. 

Na-mick, 

No. 

Abb, 

Yes. 

Singipok, 

Sleep.  * 

Kayak, 

A  canoe. 

Coonee, 

A  kiss. 

Cobloo-nak, 

An  Englishman. 

Pee-o  mee-wanga, 

I  want. 

Aunay, 

Far  off. 

Ye-meck, 

Water. 

Hennelay, 

A  woman. 

We-ive, 

A  white  goose. 

Muck-mhameeJc, 

A  knife. 

Kolipsut, 

A  lamp. 

Pussay, 

A  seal. 

Awak, 

A  walrus. 

Ka-ka! 

Go  'long!     St-'boy? 

16 


242  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

Oomiak,  A  large  boat. 

Oomiak-sook,  A  ship. 

Kannaurweet-ameg,  A  dart. 

Kina?  What  is  it?    What's  that? 

Twau-vel  Begone  I     Leave  I 


CHAPTER    XV. 

Winter  at  Hand.— We  hold  a  Serious  Council.  — "Cold  I  oh,  how  Cold  I  * 
—  A  Midnight  Gun.  — The  Return  of  "The  Curlew."— "  A  J'yful 
'Casion."  —  A  Grand  Distribution  of  Presents.  —  Good-by  to  the  Hasky 
Girls.  —  A  Singular  Savage  Song. —  We  All  get  Sentimental.  —  Adieu 
to  "Isle  Aktok."— Homeward  Bound. —We  engage  "The  Curlew" 
and  her  Captain  for  Another  Year. 

AUG.  11.  —  Water  froze  last  night  nearly  half  an 
inch  of  ice.  It  seemed  like  December  in  our 
home  latitude.  All  day  the  sky  was  hazy  and  cold, 
with  driving  mists.  The  wind  blew  from  the  north 
and  north-west  almost  continually.  A  fortnight  had 
made  a  great  change  in  the  weather.  Summer  seemed 
to  be  fast  merging  into  winter.  During  the  afternoon 
and  evening  we  held  a  serious  "  council  of  war ; "  for  all 
hope  of  the  return  of  "  The  Curlew  "  was  now  well-nigh 
abandoned.  After  some  discussion,  it  was  voted  to  stay 
here  on  the  island  during  the  winter,  rather  than 
attempt  either  to  get  out  of  the  straits  in  our  boat,  or 
reach  ]STain  overland.  During  the  morning  Shug-la- 
wina  had  come  to  our  tent,  and  pointed  to  the  oomiak 
then  off  to  the  southward.  We  knew  that  it  was  to 
urge  us  to  allow  them  to  depart  southward  into  Labrador. 
The  question  now  arose  with  us,  Should  we  allow  them 

243 


244  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

to  go  according  to  their  habit  ?  Raed  thought  we  ought 
to  let  them  go,  and  not  subject  them  to  the  peril  of  a 
winter  passed  here  on  the  island;  but  Kit  and  Wade 
opposed  this  proposition  in  toto. 

"Once  on  the  mainland,"  said  Kit,  "and  our  control 
over  them  will  cease.  They  would  either  desert  us,  or 
else  be  joined  by  numbers  whom  we  should  find  it  impos- 
sible to  govern.  Not  an  inch  shall  they  budge  from 
here  while  I  stay." 

And  in  this  view  he  was  supported  by  Wade  and  the 
sailors.  Indeed,  I  voted  to  keep  them  with  us  myself. 
To  let  them  go  seemed  suicidal. 

"  But  they  may  all  starve  here  before  spring,"  Kaed 
urged.  "  That  would  be  terrible ! " 

"  Well,  we  must  take  measures  to  see  that  they  don't 
starve,"  replied  Kit.  "Xow's  our  chance  to  show  them 
the  advantages  of  our  administration.  To-morrow  we 
must  begin  a  regular  autumnal  hunt.  Every  seal  and 
every  bear,  and  such  of  the  sea-fowl  as  have  not  already 
flown,  we  must  capture  for  winter-store.  We  must  keep 
them  at  it  sharp.  There's  no  need  of  starving,  if  we 
manage  rightly.  To-morrow  we  will  begin  a  regular 
hunt,  —  send  out  hunting-parties  every  day.  Whatever 
is  brought  in  we  will  take  charge  of,  and  deal  out  as  they 
need." 

"In  case  they  were  like  to  starve,  a  lot  of  these  worth- 
less dogs  could  be  killed  for  them  to  eat,"  said  Donovan. 
"It  wouldn't  hurt  my  feelings  to  slaughter  the  whole 
pack  of  them." 

"  It  no  need  to  come  to  that,  if  we  manage  rightly," 
replied  Kit. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  245 

Thus  it  yas  left.  The  only  cause  for  immediate  alarm 
was  the  ghastly  fact,  that  we  had  only  eleven  cartridges 
remaining. 

Toward  evening  it  came  on  to  snow.  A  dreary  night 
settled  down  upon  the  island.  But  we  lighted  our 
Husky  lamp  [it  would  appear  that  they  had  procured 
a  stone  lamp  from  the  Esquimaux],  and  made  things  as 
cheery  as  we  could.  For  the  past  week  we  had  given  up 
sentinel-duty,  save  what  Guard  could  do.  There  seemed 
no  call  for  it.  About  ten  we  all  lay  down  on  our  bear- 
skins, and,  covering  them  over  us,  were  soon  comfortable. 
But,  somehow,  that  night  my  head  was  full  of  dreams.  I 
dreamed  every  thing  a  fellow  could  well  imagine,  and  a 
good  many  things  no  one  ever  could  imagine  awake.  I 
went  all  over  the  stern  experiences  of  the  past  two 
months.  Again  we  were  hunting  bears  in  "  Hazard's 
Bay."  Again  we  were  tossing  amid  the  ice.  At  that 
stage  of  ray  fancies,  the  dogs  probably  got  to  fighting ; 
for  suddenly  I  was  back  on  our  desolate  isle.  It  was 
mid-winter;  cold!  oh,  how  cold!  The  island  was  a 
mass  of  ice.  Wutchee  and  Wunchee  had  frozen  :  we 
were  all  freezing.  Suddenly  one  of  the  Company's  ships 
hove  in  sight,  sailing  over  the  ice-fields,  and  began  a 
bombardment  of  our  island.  They  had  found  us  at  last, 
and  now  were  about  to  shell  us  out,  together  with  our 
miserable  subjects.  How  their  heavy  guns  roared! 
Their  shells  came  dropping  do\vn  with  ruinous  ex- 
plosions. Them  one  qame  roaring  into  our  tent.  There 
was  a  moment  of  horrible  suspense.  The  fuse  tizzed. 
Bany  !  We  w<  re  blown  to  atoms  ! 

I  started.     It  had  waked  me,  —  something  had.     The 


246  LEpT  ON  LABKADOB. 

lamp  gave  a  sickly  light.  Kit  was  getting  up  too ;  so 
was  Wade.  I  was  already  on  my  feet,  near  where  we 
had  stacked  our  guns. 

"  Did  you  fire  a  musket  ?  "  Kit  demanded. 

"  What  did  you  fire  at  ?  "  exclaimed  Wade. 

Ilaed  was  rousing  up ;  so  were  the  sailors.  I  hastily 
disavowed  any  shooting  on  my  part. 

"  Well,  what  was  that,  then  ?  " 

"Certainly  heard  something,"  said  Wade. 

"  I  thought  some  of  you  fired,"  Raed  observed. 

They  were  all  a  little  suspicious  of  me. 

"  He  fired  one  of  those  muskets  in  his  sleep ! "  I  heard 
Wade  whisper  to  Kit  as  we  pulled  aside  the  flap  of  the 
tent  to  look  out. 

It  was  still  snowing  stormily.  A  cold,  fine  gust  blew 
in  our  faces.  A  bleak,  dim  light  rested  on  the  whitened 
earth.  It  was  half-past  two,  morning.  Kit  had  turned 
hack  to  the  stack  of  muskets,  to  see  if  any  of  them  had 
been  discharged  doubtless,  when  like  a  thunder-peal 
came  the  quick  report  of  a  cannon.  It  made  us  jump. 
Then  in  a  moment  we  saw  it  in  each  others  suddenly- 
brightening  faces. 

"  The  Curled ! "  shouted  Donovan. 

Catching  up  our  hats,  and  seizing  each  a  musket,  we 
rushed  otit  into  the  storm.  A  dozen  of  the  Esquimaux 
had  come  to  the  doors  of  their  huts,  jabbering.  Without 
stopping  to  enlighten  them,  however,  we  pulled  up  our 
jacket-collars,  and  ran  off  toward  the  shore,  stumbling 
over  stones  and  blundering  into  holes  in  our  headlong 
baste ;  Guard  racing  ahead,  barking  loudly. 

In   less  than   five   minutes   we  had  passed  ovor  thu 


LEFT  ON  LABKiDOB.  247 

intervening  half  mile,  and  were  coming  out  on  the  shore, 
where  the  snowy  rocks  stood  dim-white  and  ghostly 
against  the  wild,  black  ocean,  tumbling  in  with  heavy 
swash  and  roar.  So  thick  was  the  storm,  and  so  dark 
was  the  air,  that  we  could  scarcely  see  a  hundred  yards 
in  any  direction.  Bringing  up  among  a  lot  of  Husky 
kayaks  lying  amid  the  snow,  we  paused  to  listen. 
Momentarily  a  blaze  of  fire  reddened  the  sea  and  the 
white  flakes  for  a  second,  and  the  sharp  report  of  our  old 
howitzer  shook  the  stormy  air. 

"  Hurrah  ! "  yelled  Kit. 

"Hurrah,  hurrah!" 

Crack,  crack,  crack,  went  the  muskets ! 

"Hurrah!"   came   faintly  from    out    the    storm,   a 
quarter  of  a  mile  off. 

We  danced,  we   capered,  at  the  risk  of  our  necks, 
among  the  slippery  kayaks.     We  fairly  hooted  for  joy. 

"  Have  you  got  the  boat  there  ?  "  hailed  Capt.  Hazard 
vith  the  trumpet.     "  Will  you  come  off  now  ?  " 

«  Boat  laid  up !  "  shouted  Kit     "  Wait  till  light ! " 

"  All  right ! "  was  the  reply. 

Nothing  more  could  be  done  then.     We  went  back 
to  our  tent. 

"  I  suppose  we  ought  to  help  the  Huskies  get  their 
oomiak  back  to  the  water,"  Kit  remarked. 

"  Yes ;  it  would  be  a  rather  hard  job  for  them  alone," 
said  Wade. 

Shug-la-wina,  came  peeping  into   the  tent  with  an 
inquiring  look. 

"  Oomiak-sook  /"  Kit  said,  pointing  off  to  the  sea. 

He  yeh-yehed,  and  went  away. 


248  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"We  must  make  it  up  to  these  poor  people  all  we  can/1 
said  Kit. 

"  We'll  make  them  such  a  present  as  they  never  saw 
before  ! "  Kaed  exclaimed. 

It  was  already  growing  light.  We  pulled  down  ou» 
tent  to  get  out  the  oomiak-mast ;  and  mustering  the 
men,  all  of  them,  got  the  oomiok.  on  the  mast-pole  and 
the  oars,  as  before,  and  carried  it  back  to  the  shore. 
There  was  no  resistance  now.  They  were  all  yeh-yeh- 
iny  and  heh-heh-ing.  This  took  about  an  hour.  We 
then  carried  our  own  boat  down  in  the  same  way.  The 
whole  population  followed  us.  By  this  time  it  was  broad 
daylight.  The  storm  had  slackened  to  a  few  straggling 
flakes.  There  lay  "  The  Curlew,"  stern  to  the  shore, 
headed  to  the  wind,  off  five  or  six  hundred  yards.  We 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  jumping  into  the  boat 
and  pulling  out  to  her  instantly.  How  beautiful  she 
looked  to  us !  Why,  I  do  believe  we  could  have  imitated 
poor  little  Wutchee  and  Wunchee,  standing  back  there 
on  the  snowy  ledges,  and  licked  the  schooner  all  over  I 
We  came  up  under  the  side.  Such  a  cheer!  Capt. 
Hazard's  honest,  brave  face  glowing  with  pleasure,  and 
all  the  rest  of  the  crew  hearty  with  rough  affection  I 
'Twas  a  sight  to  do  a  fellow's  eyes  good. 

"  Boys,  this  is  hunky  ! " 

"Well,  ain't  it,  captain ? " 

"  You're  all  there,  aren't  ye  ?  Well,  how  do  you 
do  ?  "  helping  us  over  the  rail.  "  You  don't  look  as  if 
you  had  starved." 

"Starved?  —  no!  Catch  us  starving!  We've  got  a 
whole  tribe  to  back  us.  But  Bonney,  old  boy,  what's 
the  matter  with  your  arm?"  exclaimed  Kit. 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  249 

"Oh!  Lothing  very  bad,"  replied  Bonney,  'augliing, 
and  looking  to  the  captain. 

"  Splinter  liit  him,"  said  Capt.  Hazard  significantly. 

"  You  don't  say !  "  Kit  exclaimed.  "  Did  they  come 
so  near  you  as  that  ?  " 

"  So  near's  that !  "  blustered  old  Trull.  "  Guess  you'd 
''a'  said  so !  Why,  look  at  the  after-bulwarks  !  and  look 
at  the  windlass  !  " 

The  taflfrail  was  gone,  sure  enough,  and  the  stern  bul- 
warks broken  and  patched  up  down  to  the  deck.  The 
windlass  was  torn  up  too. 

"  Whew  !  "  from  all  of  us. 

"Only  one  shot  hit  us,"  explained  the  captain. 
"  Glanced  up  from  the  water  through  the  stern,  knocked 
up  the  taffrail,  and  then  went  forward :  just  missed  the 
mast,  but  hit  the  windlass.  Haven't  been  able  to  anchor 
since." 

'•'Well,  I'll  be  blamed!"  exclaimed  Wade.  "Hurt 
you  much,  Bonney  ?  " 

"Broke  his  arm  !"  said  the  captain. 

"  You  don't  say  so ! " 

"Yes,  sir.  But  we've  set  it;  and  it's  doing  well,  I 
think." 

"  Well,  you  must  have  been  short-handed  here ! " 
eried  Donovan. 

"  Bet  you,  we  have  been !  Had  to  have  Palrnleaf  011 
deck  half  the  time.  We've  made  quite  a  sailor  of 
him." 

We  all  praised  the  darky.  Even  Wade  cried,  "Well 
done,  old  snowball !  How's  that  under  your  wool  ?  " 

"I  tinks,"  said  the  negro,  grinning  all  over,  "dat  dis 
am  a  bery  j'vful  'casion  ! " 


250  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"  So  'tis  ! " 

"But  how  far  did  they  chase  you  ?"  Kaed  inquired 

"  Clean  out  into  the  Atlantic,"  replied  Capt.  Hazard. 
"  I  should  have  given  them  a  circular  race  about  that 
ice-island  where  we  were  when  '  The  Rosamond '  fired 
into  us ;  but  the  tide  has  broken  up  the  ice  there  now. 
We've  come  back  just  as  quick  as  we  could.  But  how 
have  you  fared?  Why,  I've  had  dismal  fears  of  finding 
only  one  or  two  of  you  alive,  devouring  the  bodies  of  the 
rest." 

We  thereupon  gave  the  captain  a  brief  account  of  our 
sojourn  on  the  island,  and  how  we  had  managed  the 
Huskies. 

"That  only  demonstrates  that  you  are  natural-born 
sovereign  Yankees,"  remarked  the  captain,  laughing 
heartily. 

"  But  you  must  come  ashore  and  see  our  subjects !  " 
exclaimed  Kit. 

"I'll  do  it!" 

"  But  not  before  you've  ben  tor  brackfus',  sar  ?  "  said 
Palmleaf.  "  Coffee  all  hot,  sar." 

"Bully  for  you,  Palmleaf!"  shouted  Weymouth. 
"Don't  care  if  I  do  ! " 

"  It  seems  an  age  since  I  last  tasted  coffee,"  said 
Eaed. 

That  we  did  justice  to  Palmleaf  s  coffee  and  buttered 
muffins  I  have  110  need  to  assure  the  reader. 

Breakfast  over,  we  went  back  to  our  island,  taking  the 
captain  along,  and  Hobbs  in  the  place  of  Weymouth. 
The  savages  were  gathered  on  the  shore,  watching  the 
wmiak-sook  rather  disconsolately ;  for,  roughly  as  wo 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  251 

had  used  them,  I  think  they  had  somehow  gotten  up  a 
regard  for  us.  Seeing  us  coming  toward  the  shore  again, 
they  began  to  shout  and  hop  about  in  a  most  extrava- 
gant manner.  Landing,  we  sent  the  boat  back  after  the 
iron,  knives,  flannel,  &c.  We  then  took  the  captain 
with  us  to  see  their  huts  and  our  walrus-skin  tent.  We 
had  thoughts  of  taking  the  hides  away  with  us;  but  as 
they  were  very  heavy,  and  withal  emitted  a  rather  dis- 
agreeable odor,  we  finally  gave  them  to  Shug-la-wina. 
Our  spider,  off  which  we  had  eaten  so  many  fried  eggs 
and  broiled  ducks,  we  left  set  in  our  arch. 

The  captain  was  formally  presented  to  Wutchee  and 
Wunchee,  and  bowed  very  low.  Their  little  black  eyes 
sparkled ;  but,  at  a  nod  from  Kit,  they  bowed  in  turn,  — 
lower  than  the  captain  even  :  so  that,  on  the  whole,  the 
ceremony  was  a  rather  grotesque  one. 

"  But,  my  stars  ! "  exclaimed  Capt.  Mazard,  turning  to 
us.  "  Which  is  which  ?  Twins,  to  a  dead  certainty ! " 

"Bi-coit-suk"  replied  Wade. 

Shortly  after,  we  went  back  to  the  beach,  making  signs 
for  them  all  to  follow,  which  they  did ;  our  fair  twins 
smiling  on  the  arms  of  two  of  our  party,  whose  names 
we  forbear  to  give.  The  boat  had  come.  A  general  dis- 
tribution of  presents  was  the  next  thing  in  order.  To 
each  of  the  men  we  gave  a  long  bar  of  iron.  Their 
exclamations  of  surprise  and  delight  were  only  surpassed 
by  those  of  the  women  when  we  gave  them  each  two 
yards  of  red  flannel.  We  next  gave  to  each  one  of  them 
a  jack-knife ;  then  to  each  one  of  the  women  a  butcher- 
knife,  for  cutting  up  their  seals.  They  were  in  ecstasies. 
Kit  then  gave  a  hatchet  to  each  man  and  each  boy. 


252  LE^T  ON  LABRADOR. 

Raed  gave  to  Shug-la-wina  an  extra  knife  for  one 
of  his  dog-whips,  which  he  wished  to  keep  for  a  curi- 
osity; and  Kit  gave  to  little  Twee-gock  an  extra  knife 
and  hatchet  for  the  walrus-tusk  dagger  with  which  he 
had  tried  to  stab  him.  The  little  dark  chap  was  too 
much  astonished  at  that  to  do  any  thing  but  stare. 

The  boat  was  then  sent  back  after  a  load  of  four-foot 
wood,  and  returned,  bringing  each  one  a  sf/ick.  Nothing 
else  seemed  wanting  to  make  the  poor  creatures  regard 
us  as  objects  worthy  of  worship.  Meanwhile  the  pretty 
twins,  and  also  Igloo-ee  and  Coo-nee,  were  not  forgotten 
by  any  means.  Kit  and  Wade  had  brought  off  for  each 
of  them  a  green  pea-jacket ;  which,  considering  the  fact 
that  they  wore  jackets,  were  not  incongruous  gifts. 
Then  there  were  scarfs,  scarf-pins,  and  big  darning-nee- 
dles ;  in  short,  a  most  munificent  variety  of  presents  :  for 
though  we  must  needs  pronounce  Kit  and  Wade  a  trifle 
unscrupulous  in  their  way  of  getting  possession  of  the 
island,  yet  they  were  now  princely  in  their  generosity. 

The  captain  now  got  into  the  boat :  Raed  and  I  fol- 
lowed him.  Wade  turned  to  the  girls,  pointing  to  him- 
self, then  off  to  the  schooner,  and,  shaking  his  head,  said. 
"Annay,  annayf"  Kit  did  the  same.  They  then 
both  shook  hands  with  them,  shaking  their  heads  all 
the  time  very  mournfully,  and  still  repeating  the  sad 
"Anna//!"  It  is  no  poetic  fiction  to  add,  that  the  little 
black  eyes  of  the  pretty  savages  were  glistening  with 
tears.  Kit  and  Wade  then  got  into  the  boat,  and  we 
shoved  off  amid  sorrowful  cries  from  tu  ;  entire  group. 

"Hold  on  a  bit!"  said  Raed.  "I  like  to  observe 
them  now  their  feelings  are  wrought  upon." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  253 

The  sailors  stopped  rowing,  and  the  boat  was  allowed 
to  lie  at  about  twenty  yards  from  the  beach,  while  Wade 
sang  "Dixie"  in  his  rich,  clear  voice.  We  then  waved 
our  hands  to  them  slowly  and  sorrowfully.  Immediately 
little  Coo-nee,  with  Wutchee  and  Wunchee  and  Igloo-ee, 
took  their  white  bird-skin  gloves  from  their  boots,  and 
drew  them  on.  Then,  coming  down  where  the  waves 
touched  their  feet,  they  raised  their  hands  slowly,  and 
began  a  low,  clear  chant.  At  the  end  of  what  appeared 
to  be  a  stanza,  the  group  on  the  shore  behind  them  joined 
in  a  sort  of  chorus  resembling  the  words  Amna-ah-ya, 
amna-amna-ah-ya.  The  girls  then  began  another 
stanza,  extending  their  hands  downward  toward  the  sea, 
waving  them  slowly  to  and  fro  together.  The  chorus 
was  then  repeated.  Their  hands  and  faces  were  next 
directed,  during  a  third  stanza,  to  the  west ;  then  toward 
the  far  east.  Finally  they  raised  them  to  the  sky,  and, 
chanting  clear  and  earnestly,  seemed  to  be  imploring 
the  blessing  of  Heaven  on  us  now  departing  from  them 
over  the  wild  seas.  Kit  took  off  his  cap ;  and  we  all  fol- 
lowed his  example,  as  if  impelled  to  it.  It  was  really 
an  affecting  incident.  Our  hardy  captain  is  not  a  soft- 
hearted man ;  but  I  saw  him  wipe  a  tear  from  his  eye 
as  the  chant  ceased.  I  have  not  sought  to  color  the  pic- 
ture. There  was  a  wonderful  pathos  about  it.  We  had 
not  heard  the  song  before ;  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe 
it  extempore,  —  one  of  those  musical  efforts  which  per- 
sons in  what  we  term  the  savage  state  will  sometimes 
make  when  their  feelings  are  touched  by  new  and  strange 
influences.  Even  after  the  song  had  ceased,  the  girls, 
as  if  under  its  spell,  stood  holding  out  their  white  hand? 


254  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

to  us.  I  can  hardly  express  how  much  we  were  moved 
by  it  all.  Farewell  is,  as  we  all  know,  a  hard  word  to 
say.  But  we  were  leaving  them  forever;  and  the  dark 
storm-clouds,  the  icy  sea,  and  snowy  ledges,  seemed  a 
pitiless  fate  for  those  whose  voices  had  such  power  to 
touch  our  feelings.  What  if  they  were  savage  Hus- 
kies :  they  had  human  hearts,  with  all  the  beautiful 
possibilities  of  souls  that  might  be  made  undying. 

"  Give  'way !  "  ordered  the  captain. 

We  went  off  with  them  gazing  sadly  after  us  in  si- 
lence. Kit  and  Wa'Je  were  in  the  bow,  talking. 

"  Why  need  we  leave  them  here  ?  "  I  overheard  Wads 
ask. 

"Oh,  nonsense,  Wade!"  said  Kit. 

"But  to  leave  them  to  the  cruel  elements!"  Wade 
whispered. 

"  Yes  —  I  know  —  but  they're  happier  here  than 
they  would  be  —  in  —  in  some  great  cotton-factory  at 
home." 

"  Too  true,"  Wade  sighed,  and  fell  to  softly  whistling 
"Dixie." 

"  I  suppose,"  said  the  captain  as  we  got  aboard,  "  that 
it  will  be-  too  late  to  get  into  Hudson  Bay  farther  this 
season." 

"  Yes,"  replied  Raed :  "  we  are  all  a  little  homesick,  I 
expect.  Let's  go  home." 

The  boat  was  taken  up,  and  the  schooner  brought 
round.  The  sails  swelled  out  in  the  stormy  wind.  "  The 
Curlew"  stood  away,  down  the  si  raits. 

"  Adieu  to  Isle  Aktok  ! "  cried  Kit,  looking  off  toward 
the  snowy  island.  "Our  reign  ends  here;  but  no  one 
can  say  that  we  have  not  been  kings  in  our  day." 


LEFT  ON  LABRADOR.  255 

We  were  five  days  going  out  to  the  Atlantic.  During 
most  of  that  time,  the  wind  blew  hard  and  cold.  We 
were  glad  to  keep  snug  as  we  could  in  the  cabin.  The 
ice  collected  along  the  water-line  of  the  schooner  to  the 
depth  of  several  inches. 

With  the  exception  of  a  heavy  gale  of  seventeen  hours' 
duration  while  off  Halifax,  our  voyage  hom.e  to  Boston 
was,  though  tedious,  quite  uneventful,  —  the  mere  mo- 
notony of  the  ocean,  which  has  been  so  often  and  so  well 
described. 

Arrived  in  Boston  harbor  on  the  forenoon  of  the  9th 
of  September.  Kaed  went  up  to  the  bank  where  we  had 
deposited  our  bonds,  and,  effecting  an  exchange  of  $1,600 
worth,  came  back  to  pay  off  our  men ;  viz. :  — 

Capt.  Mazard,  three  months  and  a  half,  $350 

The  six  sailors,  three  months  each,  720 

Palmleaf,  three  months,  90 

Schooner,  300 

Damage  done  by  shot,  100 

In  all,  $1,560 

Then  the  expense  of  outfit,  1,100 

Giving  a  total,  for  the  voyage,  of  $2,660 

The  remaining  $40  from  the  $1,600  we  gave  to  Bon- 
ney  in  consideration  of  the  wound  received  in  our  service. 

"  Wish  that  splinter  had  hit  me  ! "  laughed  Donovan. 

"  Go  with  us  next  summer,  and  we  will  give  you  a 
chance  for  one"  replied  Kit. 

"Do  you  really  think  of  going  up  there  another  sea- 
eon  ?  "  said  Capt.  Mazard. 


256  LEFT  ON  LABRADOR. 

"Not  into  Hudson  Straits,  perhaps,"  replied  Raed 
"  But  we  are  going  north  again  next  spring.  And,  cap- 
tain, I  wish  we  might  again  be  able  to  secure  your  services 
as  well  as  those  of  the  crew.  '  The  Curlew '  just  suits  us. 
We  have  got  her  fitted  up  for  our  purpose.  We 
intended  to  have  built  a  schooner-yacht;  but,  if  you  will 
put  a  price  on  <  The  Curlew,'  we  will  consider  it  with  a 
view  to  buying  her." 

Capt.  Mazard  was  unwilling,  however,  to  sell  his  vessel. 

" But  I  will  make  you  this  proposition,"  said  he :  "I 
will  place  '  The  Curlew/  with  my  own  services  as  captain, 
at  your  disposal,  —  you  to  pay  all  expenses,  —  for  the  sum 
of  fifteen  hundred  dollars  per  annum." 

We  went  below  to  consult. 

"  I  don't  believe  we  could  do  better,"  remarked  Kit. 
"  It  will  relieve  us  of  all  the  cares  of  building  and  own- 
ership." 

We  were  unanimous  in  that  opinion,  and  immediately 
closed  with  the  captain's  offer. 

Our  big  rifle,  howitzer,  in  short,  all  our  property,  has 
been  left  on  board.  The  services  of  Palmleaf,  as  cook, 
have  been  retained ;  and  during  the  fall,  thus  far  (I^ov. 
1G),  we  have  been  making  the  schooner  our  floating 
home,  off  and  on.  We  have  got  a  good  anchorage  off 
from  the  wharves.  Occasionally  we  make  a  short  trip 
down  the  bay,  and  go  on  board  to  have  dinner,  chat, 
read,  and  write,  at  pleasure.  Indeed,  this  humble  narra- 
tive has  been  recorded  mostly  on  board,  sitting  at  the 
table-shelf  in  our  "  saloon."  We  all  like  the  arrange- 
ment, and  cheerfully  recommend  it  to  young  gentlemen 
of  similar  tastes. 


Famous  itastlemon  Boohs. 


No  author  of  the  present  day  has  become  a  greater  favorite 
with  boys  than  "  Harry  Castlemon,"  every  book  by  him  is  sure 
to  meet  with  hearty  reception  by  young  readers  generally.  His 
naturalness  and  vivacity  leads  his  readers  from  page  to  page 
with  breathless  interest,  and  when  one  volume  is  finished  the 
fascinated  reader,  like  Oliver  Twist,  asks  "  for  more." 


By  Harry  Castlemon. 


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